I know it is late summer now because my evenings and weekends are filled with harvesting the bounty of the 2023 growing season. This week I’m showing off some of my latest fruit and veg, soon to be prepped for drying, freezing and maybe even canning this year. BTW, I did win some prizes at my garden show last week. Take a look here: https://mastodon.scot/@julie3dharris/110877827848568978

At the very end of their season (and a little too late, some were too soft and shrivelled already) are my purple gooseberries. These will hit the freezer as there are not enough for jam this year.

I also cleared my broad bean patch in the last week. These have been magnificent this year, I’ve at least 3 boxes for the freezer, great to pull out for stir fries and ‘garden pasta’ dishes that will remind me of summer in months to come.

I suspect I’m mid-season now for tomatoes. I long ago gave up trying to grow them outside, we are simply too cool and windswept in this part of the world for them to thrive. But in the greenhouse, I’m very pleased with the results.

An all-year rounder that I’m very fond of now is the ‘walking onion’ (also called Welsh onion). This is a perennial, seems to avoid the white rot that attacks other onions if I grow them, and pops up with lots of lovely little onions at the top of the stems. I use these as ‘cut and come again’.

A fruit at the very start of the season are apples. I have 9 trees (legacy of past custodians of the garden), no idea of the varieties. These are always first, they don’t store well, but do make lovely pink juice.

Last, but very much not least, I’m attempting to grow Trombochino squash this year, as recommendation from the “Gardeners World” TV program. I don’t know if these plants are hardier than other squash (most of which have sulked/died already), or if I just gave them more care, but they are looking fabulous so far. Apparently these can be eaten like courgettes now, or left to left sweeter and browner into Autumn — I’m planning to try that with some of the fruit.

That’s my #SixOnSaturday for this week. Join the sixes on Mastodon or other instances in the Fediverse via #SixOnSaturday, we need a few more folk to toot on the topic: come join us. All you need to do is find 6 things in your garden to show us. Then post on social, or add a link at Jim’s blog below. For regulars, our organiser is Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Also on twitter @JamesLStephens. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot