Blueberries at last!

Peter picked the first of our blueberries today and some of them are almost as big as grapes. He panicked while we were away and was going to ask a friend to go and pick them for us. However, they're quite slow to ripen and don't all ripen at once, so we waited till we got back and they still weren't quite ripe. We seem to have so much fruit coming at us at the moment that it's all we can do just to keep on top of the picking, never mind doing anything with them. At least if they're in the freezer I can use them later when I have more time. Fat chance!!
The week before last we went away with the family to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary, and also the boys' birthdays. It was great to spend time together and once we were away I more or less forgot about the allotment. However, the week before we went away was spent frantically picking all of the red and white currants, and also some of the gooseberries which were going soft. I managed to make a gooseberry crumble and a cherry pie to take away with us. The pie was superb.Since we came back we've been busy picking the blackcurrants and the remaining gooseberries. We've had six pounds of blackcurrants from the one bush. Incredible.

The courgette plants have begun to take off now and in fact we came back to a very large marrow and some small courgettes. This is the first time I've grown them and I'm amazed at how fast they grow. I think I'll leave the marrow to fatten up for a giant marrow competition - if there is one! I've also watched a tiny pumpkin grow this week into the size of a small football. The celeriac is doing well and doesn't seem to have anything attacking it - so far.

I picked a few peas this week, although barely enough for a couple of mouthfuls each. They were delicious though. I dug up some lovely new potatoes today, some quite large ones, although it surprises me where they find the moisture from as we've had very little rain. We picked the first of the runner beans today although the plants don't look as lush and healthy as last year.

I picked a cabbage today to make into coleslaw. It was one of the plants Bernie gave me earlier in the year. When I showed the cabbages to Bernie's wife, Jacqui, she said she'd she'd better not tell Bernie as mine were bigger than his!

I also planted another small row of carrots, one of parsnips and one of fennel, in a last ditch attempt to get some of them to germinate. For all the seeds I planted earlier in the year, I can count about 3 carrots, no parsnips at all and all the fennel has been eaten.