2009 ... we started the year with one plot...

... and ended up with two!

This was the planting plan (click to enlarge):



and the round-up for the year went as follows:

Tomatoes galore after last year's washout where we hardly had any red tomatoes at all. We've made a variety of sauces out of the larger varieties (name) and bottled them. They are ideal for pasta sauces, the base sauce for chilli etc. The smaller cherry type varieties (name) we have been scoffing like sweets and have also semi dried them in the oven for using in salads, with fish etc. Nigella Lawson has a good version of sunblush tomatoes which she calls Moonblush tomatoes as you put the tomatoes on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little sugar, salt, olive oil and herbs, turn up the oven to 'full whack', put the tomatoes in, then immediately turn off the oven and leave overnight. So the drying is being done while you are snoozing! (take a look at the "Recipes" section of the blog)

And the award for New Discovery of the Year goes jointly to spaghetti squash and cavalo nero and it is probably no great surprise that both of these vegetables originate from Italy. We will definitely be growing both of these again next year!

Spaghetti squash pretty much does what it says on the packet... you roast or bake it and when you cut into it (cutting across the squash) ... hey pesto (very nice accompaniment to it!)... sorry hey PRESTO...- you have spaghetti-like strands. We have been eating our own version of vegetable spaghetti bolognaise by having it with our homemade tomato sauces... it makes for a much lighter meal than if you were to take the more traditional route of meat and pasta.

Cavalo nero is black Tuscan cabbage which grows with long tongues of leaves. Wonderful just stir fried with a bit of ginger and garlic, or added to soups and stews and pasta.

Salad Leaves of the Year goes to... Romaine. Wonderfully crisp and less prone to bolting than other varities of leaves we have tried.

Other successes:

Rocket - much more fiery than the leaves you buy in the supermarkets

Carrots - we grew these in pots this year to try to deter the carrot fly and... IT WORKED! clean, pock-mark free carrots!

Parsnips - these need 9 months or so in the ground so we are already looking forward to going to the allotment on Christmas morning to pick them for our Christmas lunch!

Potatoes Pentland Javelin (first early); Nadine (second early); Lady Balfour (maincrop) and Desiree (maincrop)

Sweetcorn - planted v early (along with squash etc) so the risk paid off. However, they were nowhere near as sweet as last year's crop so will need to choose our variety carefully

Courgettes - Rugosa Friulana (Seeds of Italy) - very ugly but tasty and prolific



Butternut squash - my favourite vegetable! Love it roasted, in soups, and makes for a fantastic risotto and lasagne.

Artichokes - we were duped! These were in fact cardoons! Wonderful in flower displays but not much cop on a plate drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Celeriac - these should be ready this Winter, and again, we are hoping they will be a friend for our Christmas parsnips

Onions - white + red from sets

Red Italian onions - who says onions are dificult to grow from seed?!

Spring onions

Pak choi - very tasty but with the dry weather we had it bolted very readily

Planted more asparagus (will be cropping first crowns next year)

Added more strawberry plants - thank you Tony (Mr Mangetout for the
runners!)

Broad beans - planted on 14 February and we had a moderate crop but lost quite a few to blackfly

French beans - after last year's success, these were very disappointing - oh well, you can't be good at evertying (not this year, anyway!)


Broccoli - purple sprouting and green - taste and colour to die for

Cauliflowers - white + purple - again, amazing colour but we must try some successive sowing next year... as much as we like cauliflowers, having all 20 come at once is not ideal

Greenhouse:



Melons - we left these a little too long and lost all but one. But.. that one was the sweetest, juiciest melon I have EVER tasted!

Aubergines - cooked up with some aromatic spices ([ ]) these were wonderful with couscous and tasted even better a couple of days after cooking

Chillies - a bumper crop and boy oh boy are they fiery!

Tomatoes and cucumbers- they just kept on coming, and coming, and coming...it is October now and they are STILL coming!