A blog originally for keeping track of my hobby of being a Beekeeper which has evolved to include Home Brewing and even more recently to follow me and my families approach to "The Good Life". Eventually I hope to include baking recipes and stories of our flock of chickens also reporting on the success and failure at the allotments.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Vegetable Mission

My father has recently gone on holiday and left me in charge of watering his tomatoes in the allotment while he's been gone. I also took the liberty of helping myself to some of the harvest. Some of the produce is from my seeds but most is my Dad's however he always grows more than needed. Next year we aim to get more involved with the planting and weeding of the allotment.


Vegetables

In the above picture there are tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, spring onions, borlotti beans, beetroot and achocha. The potatoes are of the variety desiree. I'm not sure of the variety of the spring onions, carrots, tomatoes or beetroots. The beans are borlotti beans and are similar to kidney beans only not red; they are creamy white with red dashes. The spiky green things are called achocha; they grow on vines and have taken over 1 of my dads greenhouses, they are kind of like a cross between a cucumber and a pepper but are reported to have several health benefits including lowering cholesterol and anti inflammatory effects. Another great thing about them is that they are none hybrid seeds which means that I can keep the seeds and grow them every year, with hybrids there is no guarantee that your seeds will grow from year to year. 

I will be growing as much as possible next year and hope to report on my success (and failure) as well as showing what we have done with some of the veg.   

4 comments:

  1. It's been a while since I visited your blog and I see you have revamped it and had a trim (not quite a shave!) so you no longer bear the striking resemblance to Rasputin in a veil I first perceived!

    Your daughter is a darling.

    I have never heard of achocha and can't imagine a cucumber preper cross but, as ever, am willing to give anything new (within reason) a go. How are they best served? Where can one buy the seeds?

    If they are vines, I am looking for plants that will grow through the chain link fencing bounding our property to provide a bit of privacy.

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    1. I have been likened to Rasputin before surprisingly enough!

      She is pretty amazing when she is in the right mood!

      Achocha are good on pizzas or raw in salads, I have cooked them in a pan with a little butter and garlic and that was nice!

      I got them from this website

      http://www.realseeds.co.uk/cucumbers.html

      But I'm not sure if they will delivery to you

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  2. I will find a way! I am waiting for a truck to turn up loaded with blocks and cement so that I can build my planters around the restaurant. Rather than flowers I was thinking of planting a variety of salad vegetables so the clients could really see our produce, the stuff on their plates, is fresh of the vine so to speak!

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    1. Sounds good, think it will look amazing with the produce your serving growing just outside!

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