Harvest time

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bernie66

Tenderfoot
Oct 7, 2007
62
0
58
wirral uk
www.downsizer.net
Cheers,
I'm going to try overwintering this year as i have never managed to be self sufficient in onions. I've got circa 300 red baron (too many going to seed and thus won't store) and sturon which are looking fine but under threat of rust which has jumped from the garlic to the Egyptian walking onions and is now threatening the main crop.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
More alliums today...about 800 shallots


Shallot harvest by British Red, on Flickr



Thoroughly bored with preserving strawberries


Strawberry preserves by British Red, on Flickr


50 pounds frozen
50 pounds dehydrated
20 pounds of strawberry jam
10 pounds of strawberry rhubarb pie filling
20 pounds of canned strawberries
10 pounds of syrup

Added a cubic yard of compost to the emptied beds ready for planting Autumn / Winter crops
 

DanielCoffey

Member
Jul 5, 2015
27
0
Edinburgh, UK
I was wondering how folks dealt with a surplus of blackcurrants.

Once you have reached your quota for freezer space and jam, does anyone dehydrate the rest and if so how do they compare with shop-bought dried currants?
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
BB made up a dozen pints of tomato and chilli soup today given the Time are coming in fast

Tomato Soup by British Red, on Flickr

I'm delighted that the cherry trees we planted are getting large enough to crop.


Cherries by British Red, on Flickr


This variety is called sweetheart and it tastes even better than it looks!
 
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Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
The dried currants that you buy in the store are probably dried Corinthian grapes, not real currants at all.
I harvest about 15lbs/7kg black currants mid August each year. Make jam. Never tire of the taste!
I've made a few peach & b. currant fruit pies = OK, but don't fog my goggles.

Just home from a trip with 13 x 800g bags of washed, cleaned and frozen Saskatoon/Service berries (Amelanchier alnifolia)
They are an iconic fruit pie treat from the Canadian prairies. What I pick (5lbs/hr) here in BC is very much the same taste.
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
I was wondering how folks dealt with a surplus of blackcurrants.

Once you have reached your quota for freezer space and jam, does anyone dehydrate the rest and if so how do they compare with shop-bought dried currants?

At this moment I have two gallons of black currant brew on the go. I am not fermenting it to full wine strength, more like a fruit cider. This is the reason I have been growing black currants, and it is the first year since I took on my allotment and planted them that I have had a decent enough crop for this. I remember that we used to have blackcurrants in the garden when I was young and my dad used to ferment them.
 

bigbear

Full Member
May 1, 2008
1,061
210
Yorkshire
Planted two blackcurrant bushes last year, they did nothing due I gues to the shock of being transplanted, but had a nice harvest this year. Frozen them so we can have a couple of really nice puddings in the depths of winter to remind us of summer.
Ideally would have more but there just is not the space. Ditto gooseberries.
 

DanielCoffey

Member
Jul 5, 2015
27
0
Edinburgh, UK
Do you find it mandatory to net your soft fruit to protect it from the birds? I was wondering if planting even more of them and "sharing" was a viable strategy or if I would just end up with more, fatter birds?

I am not thinking of hundreds of bushes, of course... more like planting a dozen instead of three. Given enough space I thought the cost of the extra bushes may offset the cost of the cages.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
I have to net. I have, for example, 30 gooseberry bushes. The birds can strip 30 bushes in an hour.
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
I caught a pigeon on my kohlrabi. I caught it with Eley no. 6 shot :)

Ever since I saw a flock of pigeons flying off after they had devastated my kohl rabis, they are a crop I grow under netting. Alas we are not allowed to shoot anything on our allotments.
 

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