Some seriously hot weather this week, with temperatures shooting up to 27 degC on Thursday (8 deg above average for August!). This was followed by a huge thunderstorm that delivered 1cm hail and 63mm of rain in 40 minutes. I’ve not seen anything like that in Scotland before, it felt like being in the Alps! My garden seems to have recovered well from the beating. But even so, I decided to focus on the greenhouse for this week’s #SixOnSaturday. All edibles this week, some doing very nicely.
The humble cucumber is a wonderful veg when picked fresh from the greenhouse. The small ones seem to be the most tasty. This one is about the size of my hand-width.
A range of chillies are coming on. This year, I have tried to give each plant a bit more space and light, else they don’t always get really ripe, or really hot. This one is as long as my hand, and beginning to turn red. I’m slightly annoyed that I’ve lost the species label. Time will tell how hot and spicy this one will be.
A thin vine from South America, Achocha does OK outside in a good year. In the greenhouse, it really thrives. Fruits are spiky and thumb-sized. I take out the (very sharp pointy) seeds and then fry or roast like a bell-pepper.
We have had a pretty good summer here. When cooler, it has been sunny, when cloudy warm. The figs have loved it. We’ve had a good few to eat from the greenhouse, and outdoors against a big south-facing wall, they are beginning to ripen.
Tomatoes have made a slow start, and seem quite variable. That makes a nice change, they are currently ripening at my eating rate, so no need to dry or freeze any yet. This gorgeous variety is “Audrey’s love”. Sweet, juicy and satisfyingly striped. She also grow under 1m tall, so ideal for the greenhouse bench.
Early this year, grapes are beginning to ripen. I’d better get eating as the vine fills the top of the greenhouse. They have enjoyed the recent heat.
That little lot show what can be grown at 56.6 deg north in a largish greenhouse. It is very much the most satisfying section of my garden. Thanks to those leaving comments on the blog – sorry if I don’t always get back to you on time! The blog is going well, but it would be great if more folk on Mastodon, or other parts of the Fediverse got into tooting a Six! Go on, it’s a much kinder form of social media, not controlled by crazy billionaires. 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/. And I’m on mastodon @julie3dharris@mastodon.scot