Six on Saturday: Autumn Vegetables

The weather over the last week continues to be reasonably hot, achieving temperatures of around 25C but still no rain. I am recycling water and reusing as much as I physically can. aka storing all the pool backwash, water from shower, dehumidifiers, collecting water in bowls etc. etc.

Rant warning: While out for a walk this week I noticed an empty house (it is a second home) and the sprinklers were pumping out water showering a lawn! Apparently it is on every day …It makes me wonder why I bust a gut to save water while second homers fritter it all down the drain. It cancels out all my effort.

End of rant …

My vegetables have certainly kept me busy this week. What with unidentified bugs trying to reduce the leaves to lace, warding off various diseases and remembering to hand pollinate the courgettes I need to patrol the area several times a day. (yes, talking to the plants does help)

1. Cucumbers

My biggest concern is the cucumbers and I think something called mosaic virus. Not good. I’ve now cut off all infected leaves and disposed of them, but it is still spreading. Ho hum … IF I manage to get another couple of months of harvest before the cold weather arrives, I’ll be happy. I’ve planted some more seeds this week to see if I can persuade them to grow so I have a winter crop.

This week I’ve harvested more cucumbers than I need so I am going to pickle them.

I have picked 3kg of tomatoes this week so at €2.99 a kilo in the shops (last time I checked) I have already made substantial savings.

2. Tomatoes

3. Radish -Long Scarlet

I only planted the seeds on the 4th of September so I was quite surprised to see a few radish ready to harvest. They are HOT! Delicious with cheese.

4. Mint

I have various types of mint including chocolate mint. I recently purchased this specimen to grow in a pot by the front door for easy access to make mint teas, etc. BUT something is eating it and I can’t ascertain who is the culprit. Has anyone else experienced problems like this? Any ideas?

5. Courgette

My courgettes planted in August are finally producing baby courgettes … thanks to a little help from me. Yep, no bees so I need to hand pollinate.

Autumn Courgettes (Zucchini), Tomatoes and Cucumber Experiment

6. Rocket

The rocket I planted as seed plugs in early September are struggling. Several of the plants are already producing flowers, which I pinch off. That said, the baby rocket leaves will provide a great addition to our green salad.

That’s it for this week, folks. For more Six on Saturday bloggers do swing by The Propagators blog.