Wednesday 18 June 2014

The first precious harvests

I love this moment in the garden most of all I think.  Everything is lush and green and growing quickly, and those first few pods and berries and leaves are ready.  And of course the first ones are always the very best.

Aren't the colours on this blueberry wonderful?  The softest of greens, the barest blush of lavender and a lovely faded denim blue.  The biggest boy was disappointed this morning that the blueberry he ate wasn't the first to be consumed.  No, that was the one I had last night.  Yum.


There aren't many strawberry plants this year, but we've still had a few good bowlfuls.  The littlest boy loves them, we all do in fact, and the fruit salads have been so nice I've wondered why I don't serve fruit for dessert more often.  The children actually prefer it to other things a lot of the time.



The runner beans have buds on them, and mysteriously they seem to be a nice salmon pink colour.  They're a variety called Celebration that I've never grown before, and I wasn't expecting pink flowers.  I think I shall enjoy looking at them.


The broad beans are just about ready to be picked.  There aren't many at home, some plants mysteriously disappeared, as they do.  We might end up eating them all small and raw.


These are sugar snap peas, Sugar Ann, grown especially for the littlest boy who eats sugar snaps whenever he can.  He's not a fan of cooked vegetables, but he enjoys raw ones, so I often give them to him raw with his meal.  Sugar snaps are great for lunchboxes as well, I really can't grow enough of them.



The tomatoes are looking surprisingly good.  They were so small and sad looking to start with, but they've rallied admirably so I'm feeling hopeful for a good harvest.  Again, I don't think I could grow too many of them.


The tree fruit is quietly doing its thing.  Apples and pears slowly swelling in the summer sun.  Many have fallen in the June drop, and the trees are left with just the right amount for them.


One of the last remaining peaches.  There weren't many to start with and most of them have been footballed off.  I'm not that bothered though, it will allow the tree to put more energy into growing bigger and stronger and more able to withstand small boys.


The herbs are doing nicely, especially the chives.  They are some of my favourites, so useful and easy to grow (stick them in and forget about them) and at this time of year they have the most beautiful flowers.  The flowers are nice pulled apart and sprinkled over salads.  They're onion-ey, just like the leaves.  The bees really love them too, I've seen so many different types of bees on them, in fact they're almost never without a bee.



The first of the flowers are blooming too.  In fact I'd go so far as to say that everything in the garden is rosy.




I hope it is with you too.

37 comments:

  1. Lovely photos and produce. My dad has an allotment - so I have the fresh veg without the hard work! x

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  2. The garden is looking lovely! I'm sure it's wonderful to be able to eat the fruits of your labor. Everything looks delicious and beautiful!

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  3. You have had some lovely things already by the sound of it and more to come too! I hope that you can get at least one peach, that would be a treat wouldn't it. Happy gardening! xx

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  4. I am really loving all of your beautiful photos of your harvest! Everything looks so amazing friend! And yes my beans could eat fruit anytime of the day! But that blueberry photo stole my heart! Nothing prettier! Happy day to you! And here is to good eats! Nicole xo

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  5. Do bees seem to fall asleep on your chive flowers? I looked at ours the other day and there were at least half a dozen of them, looking rather drunk!

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    1. They are quite a bit slower when they're on there, it's the only way I can get a photo! On the raspberries they're so fast I can't capture them. Maybe I should limit the amount of chive flowers in our salads.

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  6. Those berries look so good!!!!!! And that bee scared the crap out of me

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    1. I shall keep posting bee pictures until you're cured of your bee fear! Soft and fluffy, soft and fluffy.

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  7. hello Cj! it's lovely to come over and see all the wonderful colours and peas and EVERYTHING you have in your garden at the moment! it's lush compared to my winter hibernation. thank you for visiitng my boog - i'm looking forward to having a poke around Above the River.

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    1. I really enjoyed reading your blog, thanks for visiting here too.

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  8. Your garden is looking sensational! So healthy, productive and colourful. It makes me yearn for Summer, as we have not a scrap in the vegetable garden at the moment. We spent hours and hours double-shelling a massive crop of broad beans last Summer and I am determined to pick them very young next time to avoid the whole shelling process! Enjoy your lovely garden :-) Mel x

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  9. Isn't it frustrating how blueberries ripen so few at a time? We have fruit fir dessert a lot 0 if not as fresh fruit in crumbles or pies. Those broad bean leaves look as though they have dodged the weevils too!

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    1. I'm always making crumbles, they're so quick, especially when the fruit is already prepared in the freezer. The allotment beans aren't looking so good, maybe they have the weevils?

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  10. Oh my goodness - I am so missing the season this year with the move. I think it's going to be pyo for us this Summer.

    Nina x

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  11. A good summary of just why it's worth all the effort.

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  12. It's a great time of year, the first of the harvests and the promise of more to come. We had more strawberries from the allotment last night, a bag full in fact. No blueberries here yet though, but it looks as though the plants have produced more than I first thought so that's something to look forward to.

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    1. Nothing lovelier from the allotment than a big bag of strawberries, bliss.

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  13. Your fruit looks great CJ - no insect blemishes? Our apples are always covered with them (of course we don't spray or do anything to them). Our apples are really just good for pressing and making cider. It is great that your boys eat healthy - raw veggies? - not many boys are into that unfortunately.

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    1. Some of the apples do have lots of marks on them, in fact I was just looking at them and wondering what it was. Round here there's always a good chance things are caused by man or boy as well as insect. Those ones are smaller too, I'm thinking they may fall off. Hopefully the rest of them will be okay though.

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  14. Everything looks so full of promise. And I love those peach runner bean flowers. I used to grow them a lot, but recently it has gotten hotter her in the summer and they usually won't set for us anymore.

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  15. A most enjoyable post and wonderful pictures. I especially like the last one, is it a 'Flighty's favourite'?
    It's been a good year for strawberries and I hope that it is for raspberries as well. That runner bean variety has an RHS AGM and produces excellent tasting pods. Flighty xx

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    1. It is a Flighty's favourite, the littlest boy has grown it. He's been watching it open and close with the sun. I'm glad to hear the bean is recommended, it looks so pretty, if it's any good I'll definitely grow it again.

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  16. So much bounty in you're garden, my tomato's are still tiny, but all the flower are blooming away just planted a honeysuckle and Clemetis which I picked up at the Supermarket for £2.50 each.
    Clare x

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  17. Hey CJ,
    I love a good garden round up. Yours in beautiful and productive. The best kind, I'd say. Our strawbs have really suffered from slugs and snails this year. No matter what I do, they manage to nibble their way through them. Not one has been saved so far. I had my first mange tout in a stir fry the other day. And yes those first pickings from the garden are definitely the best. My blueberries aren't as advanced as yours. But they are still better than last year, when the heat wave damaged them beyond repair.
    Happy eating!
    Leanne xx
    I have replied to your email. Thank you for asking me to join in. Chuffed. And will do xx

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  18. Oh wow it all looks so productive. My strawberries are dire this year we have had two! They didn't survive in the barrel I planted last year, so I need to start again. My youngest is the same, he will quite happily graze his way round the veg garden but won't eat it cooked apart from a few runner beans!

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  19. It's great isn't it.. all that lovely fresh food.. grown by our own green fingers.. can't beat it. Great photos CJ :o) xx

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  20. Such wonderful photographs! You've done so well with the growing too...after your (very good) advice my blueberry (bush? plant? shrub?) has lots of fruit (I have to say i was very surprised) but they're nowhere near ripe yet. My girls were too quick with the first strawberries and they were gone before I could capture a snap!!!

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  21. Oh wow, these pictures are beautiful! I love the colors of the flowers. I think the one of the strawberries is my favorite though. Congrats on the first harvest! (And go England! I'm watching the soccer match now, thinking of you and your eldest cheering them on as well).

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  22. I love the berry pictures CJ! I'm a huge fan of the chives as well. I'm so glad you're getting a lovely first harvest. Here's to more bounty to you and yours. Thanks for feeding the bees!

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  23. How wonderful to be eating your own produce! Our garden is winter bare.

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  24. I love your garden posts.. how neat you're dining on your own homegrown things! I also love chives - I'm had a pot of them for 15 years and they never fail me! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  25. I am so in awe of your gardening CJ, I would like to plant raspberries and blueberries in the future. the currents I grow now are mainly used for jam. It doesn't get fresher than this does it!

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  26. So much beauty and bounty! And yes, the colors on those blueberries truly are marvelous, what a lovely combination. I can't remember if I have commented here before, but I only recently discovered your blog and you are now on my list. Your photos capture lots of beauty and your words bring smiles at times. I am enjoying your views of your part of England from my Southern California locale. So green and lush and different from what we are used to here. I love that about blogging!

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  27. I keep missing posts, so annoying. Your strawberries are ever so beautiful and I bet they taste absolutely amazing, too. We only have tiny wild strawberries, they grow in cracks in the walls and everywhere else. x

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  28. Your garden is amazing, so much wonderful produce :)

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  29. Such abundance! I know your allotment and garden are a lot of work but they reward you with so much plentiful goodness. That photo of the blueberries - gorgeous. I love the soft colours. x

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  30. Such beautiful photographs and what a delightful little meander around your kitchen garden. It's posts like this that make me wish my thumbs were greener! x

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