Today's little lot...

It might be the middle of October but still some goodies to be had.  Basil made a pesto, the mushrooms are now in a pasta sauce and the lettuce was cooked and eaten with smoked peppered mackerel and a horseradish sauce - scrummy. The rocket was consigned to the compost bin! It was well past its sell by date. Tomorrow the dish of the day is belly pork with wild mushrooms and stir fried lettuce and garlic.

Bit of a pick over

Really went out to do a bit of weeding but got a little distracted.  This is the final pick of the squashes I reckon in total I've got about  45 usable squashes to see us through the winter.



I am hopeless at thinning out as I want to give all the plants a chance - that is so silly I know.  In an effort to get over this I ruthlessly thinned out three rows of turnips and four rows of swede - now the remainder had better repay me with plump roots. I didn't thin out these carrots so there are lots of teeny weeny ones. Plenty more growing in the veggie plot which I will thin out.



Last of these long mild chillies I should think as there are no more flowers appearing and we can't be too far off a frost. These have performed well for me this year. I think they are called Doux  Les Landes.



Finally, picked a few beetroot, more calendula flower heads for balm and some over blown calabrese that will make its way into a soup pot.

Now, best get out there and actually do some weeding before the sun goes down!

 

The prince

Another choice edible starting to appear.  This is the prince it's flesh smells like almonds.  I never used to be too fond of conifers but some of the best tasting fungi are to be found at their bases. Amazing day today, blue skies and 24 degrees forecast - looks like a bit of a tidy up in veggie plot is in order for this afternoon. Think I might lift the last of the squashes and set them out to dry in the sun which is set to last for a few more days.

More free stuff

Only went out to clean out the hens and found these had popped up in their coop.  Makes up for the distinct lack of walnuts due (I think) to the pair of red squirrels living in our pines trees.  Good day all round for freebies as this morning I ordered a pile of seeds with my £10 voucher.  With the sale on I managed to get a huge amount of veggie and flower seed for next year. Finally, managed to catch a couple of safflower seed heads that yielded usable seeds for next year (other ones I've picked were like mush). I'm hoping to grow a large patch of these next year instead of the solitary specimen I managed this year!

Yummy!

Just got back from a little holiday where I saw these Milkcaps in a Spanish market selling for 35 euros a kilo - yikes! That is more expensive than cepes here in France. This lot almost escaped me as they were well hidden in the long grass which is currently in desperate need of cutting.



Must have been a lot of rain while we were gone as the mushrooms are out in force and the beetroot has finally fattened up a bit. The veggie plot is looking a bit sad but my remaining squashes are looking good and almost ready to pick.  Hope I'm not saying 'sick of squash' before spring.  The calendula are still in flower so another batch of balm on the cards and a gigantic pot of veggie soup should be on the go by the weekend - and I mean gigantic!