Early October Harvest | Homestead Life

 On Sunday 9th October I went to my little allotment patch and harvested a variety of yummy things to cook and preserve in the week ahead. 

As you can see in the photo, I decided it was time to harvest the remaining tomatoes, including all of the green tomatoes because it was unlikely that they would ripen on the plant now with the cold weather and less sunlight. I'll attempt to ripen some of these at home but those that don't ripen will still get used, I'll make a green tomato chutney with them. In the past I've also pickled green tomatoes which made a great addition to salads. 

The apples were not from out own allotment, those were gifted to us from a relative who has apple trees on their much larger plot. I spend the weekend cooking with them and preserving them in a variety of ways. I'll share a blog and blog about that soon. 

The white icicle radish you can see there have been absolutely fantastic this year, if you haven't already tried this variety I highly recommend doing so. They grow to a great size without going woody. You'll find the seeds in most good garden centers, click here to see what you will be looking for. 

The nasturtium has done really well this year and I've learnt lots of new ways to use it, I even experimented with using it to make a pesto. I'll do a write up on how that went soon and share the recipe. 

Often this time of year is when things start winding down for gardener, for me though I'm working hard to plan ahead for next year. I want to increase the amount of edible crops we grow both at our little allotment and in our little courtyard garden. With the current financial crisis here in the UK I'm looking into as many ways as possible to save money and reduce our spending. Seed saving and investing in perennial edibles crops are two things I'm focused on at the moment. 

How are you all coping with the current situation facing the UK and other countries around the world? I'd love to hear from you.