Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Harvesting the Veggies

Carrots pulled up this morning
(and a Courgette that hid under the leaves til it turned into a little Marrow)
It's that time of year, the time to start bringing in all the veggies that have reached their peak.
Don't panic if you're thinking that yours are a bit behind, it's mine that are in front. A mixture of living in the South of England, and having the bonus of the polytunnel to get things started so much earlier means that crops are in sooner.
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Onions harvested yesterday drying in the sunshine.
To be honest I don't enjoy the thought of doing the harvesting but once I get stuck in it's not too bad. To see the freezer filling up with boxes of veggies labelled 'our carrots', 'our spinach' etc, it makes the work worthwhile.
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This year to make the job a little bit easier we have our outdoor washing station. It's simply an old Belfast sink with a bucket underneath the plughole to catch the water and a short length of hose from the outdoor tap next to it.

We give the veggies (and plant pots, wellies etc) their first rinse here and it saves the pipes in the kitchen sink from getting clogged up with soil. The soily water drains into the bucket underneath and we use this to give the veggies in the tyres a drink. Very environmentally friendly in my opinion as the soil goes back to where it should be. It's surprising how such a simple idea has improved things.

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And of course because we are outside we can rinse the veggies that are for us......

...and immediately give all the trimmings to the chickens, so they get a fresh tasty snack too. You should see them lining up by the fence to watch me preparing their salad!

Sue xx

7 comments:

  1. Phew - glad for your 'don't panic' comment. My heart was sinking when I saw your carrots, until I read that.

    Love the sink. What a great idea. Your pics are like something out of Country Living, Sue!

    xx

    ps Harvested the radishes last night - pathetic!! Woody and tiny! Ah well.... can't get it all right :-)

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  2. Well done with the carrots and the outside sink is a great idea.
    I gave up on my carrots - planted something else in there and what do you know they are starting to grow now.

    BTW I do like your right hand list of everything home made thats in your store cupboard.

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  3. Excellent love it ! Love the Belfast sink recycling water. I'm not sure when things are ready ! Trial & error his year.

    I remember in the heatwave in the 70's Dad putting an old bath under the kitchen window to catch all the sink & bathg water to put on the garden - I seem to remember bubble bath was banned !

    I did this from my washing machine in Spain - it was in an outhouse & I led the ( extended ) wastehose directly onto the garden - I had lush roses !

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  4. I can taste those sweet carrots from here! M-M-M
    Again, great photos Sue.

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  5. It's a really good idea to be able to wash the mud off the veggies outside.

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  6. That is a great set-up. I've been using the outside hose over an old bucket to give our veggies the first rinse (and using the bucket to water too), but an actual sink to wash them in would make things a lot easier! I will have to keep an eye out for anyone renovating in my village to see if they leave a sink on the curb (kerb, sorry) for the trash man that I can nick!

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  7. Cor, I bet those carrots tasted delish! Sue x x x

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