In the Garden

Northerner said:
I gave this fuchsia a savage pruning with the hedge clippers (as recommended by @eggyg 😱 ) as it had grown far too large over the previous year. I wondered if I might have killed it - but now it's even bigger than before! 😱 🙂

Before:

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Now! 😱

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The phrase 'What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger' applies just as much in the plant world.
 
eggyg said:
Fab Alan. I thought I’d killed ours this year but no, it was a bit late because of the cold spell we had. Phew!
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Yes, I was looking for the picture when I pruned it - and it was on 1st June! That was when the frosts were finally over! 😱
 
Northerner said:
Has anyone grown any of these? A neighbour puts a box of excess stuff they have grown out to help yourself, and I picked up one of these yesterday as I was so intrigued by them! 🙂 Will have to look for a recipe! 🙂

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Ooh, a patty pan squash! Never grown any, (I tried but the plants didn’t come up) I think the easiest and most hassle free way to cook them is to chop them up, toss them in oil and seasoning, and roast them in the oven in a baking tin.
 
Leadinglights said:
Make some courgette and brie soup, stick it in the freezer for a rainy day.
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I made some on Monday. Absolutely delicious. I didn’t tell Mr Eggy what it was, supposedly a courgette hater, and he loved it. Got two tubs in the freezer now. Thanks for the idea.
Edited to say I used the really strong Brie, you know the one that makes your fridge smell like there’s something dead in it! I thought I’d overpowered it at first but once it all totally melted it was fab. Didn’t have to use a lot.
 
Northerner said:
Yes, I was looking for the picture when I pruned it - and it was on 1st June! That was when the frosts were finally over! 😱
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It always amazed me that hedges in the most exposed places in Ireland were fuchsias. I absolutely love them but I always seem to get vine weevils in the pots which just love to munch the roots away. They do better in the ground where the natural nematodes keep the evil creatures at bay.
 
Robin said:
Ooh, a patty pan squash! Never grown any, (I tried but the plants didn’t come up) I think the easiest and most hassle free way to cook them is to chop them up, toss them in oil and seasoning, and roast them in the oven in a baking tin.
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I grow a whole variety of squashes and love the surprise at just what texture any particular one will be, from dry like pumpkin to quite wet or like the vegetable spaghetti all stringy. A couple of new ones this year, mashed potato and baked potato (T &M), not yet tried them. I usually never put them near water when cooking unless making soup of course.
Pleased your OH liked the soup.@eggyg
 
eggyg said:
I made some on Monday. Absolutely delicious. I didn’t tell Mr Eggy what it was, supposedly a courgette hater, and he loved it. Got two tubs in the freezer now. Thanks for the idea.
Edited to say I used the really strong Brie, you know the one that makes your fridge smell like there’s something dead in it! I thought I’d overpowered it at first but once it all totally melted it was fab. Didn’t have to use a lot.
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Get Mr Eggy to read the story of the Kreplach in the book The Thousand Deaths of Mr Small.
My O H hates ratatouille no matter what modifications I make. It is still KREPLACH in his eyes.
 
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And here they are again! 😱 Picked these yesterday and counted another 10 on the way! I am all courgetted out.😛
 

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I wish I were! Mine keep getting blossom end rot, thanks to the weird weather we've been having. Growing them in pots probably doesn't help though.
 
TheClockworkDodo said:
I wish I were! Mine keep getting blossom end rot, thanks to the weird weather we've been having. Growing them in pots probably doesn't help though.
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Is that why my tomato flowers keep dropping off? At this rate, I’m only going to get 3 tomatoes from 2 plants, boo hoo.

Anyway, saw this is the garden earlier - is it big for a caterpillar (it was the length of my thumb and almost as wide)? 39918607-6DBF-4320-B59F-5F444AF5E17B.jpeg
 
We are having problems with our courgettes this year too, I suspect the plants aren’t producing male and female flowers at the same time, so they're not getting pollinated.
 
Robin said:
We are having problems with our courgettes this year too, I suspect the plants aren’t producing male and female flowers at the same time, so they're not getting pollinated.
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There seems to have been problems with pollination this year, my fruit trees have a very poor crop but I just dug 4 potato plants, an afterthought with some sprouting charlottes from last years crop as I wasn't going to grow any at all, and the yield was amazing 10kg from just the four plants.
 
Robin said:
We are having problems with our courgettes this year too, I suspect the plants aren’t producing male and female flowers at the same time, so they're not getting pollinated.
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That’ll be it then. We had the same problem with our apple trees - lotsa flowers, then a mass shedding...and zero apples. o_O
 
Bloden said:
That’ll be it then. We had the same problem with our apple trees - lotsa flowers, then a mass shedding...and zero apples. o_O
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We’ve got hardly any apples, though the pear tree is laden and the plum has got a few. They flower at different times, so the pear obviously timed it right. We had a very late frost which accounted for the apples, I think. The pear and the plum were earlier, they are the ones that usually succumb to frost.
In contrast, I usually reckon that either the french or the runner beans do well, but not both, but this year, after a slow start, they are both suddenly producing loads.
 
We haven’t as many apples this year either but the French beans, although very late starting, are doing great.
 
We have glut of french beans. My week to cook and every meal is based round the french beans.
Good bit of colour and still liking them.
 
SB2015 said:
We have glut of french beans. My week to cook and every meal is based round the french beans.
Good bit of colour and still liking them.
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Ours too Sue! I made chicken and chorizo risotto, with French beans. Lamb chops, with French beans. Salmon fillets with stir fried vegetables, mostly French beans. Tonight is savoury mince pie, with French beans!
The courgettes have also had a starring role on this week’s menu. Courgette, potato and Brie soup and roast chicken and ratatouille.
 
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