Harvesting Time

/ Sue Dreamwalker

These weeks and months are just flying by so quickly these days, I hardly turn around and another week has gone by. But that in itself is a good thing, as I live in the now of moments, and to think too far into the future right now with all that is happening within our world only makes us anxious as we see what is unfurling before us.

A Mornings Harvest

This was a mornings harvest of tomatoes, Carrots and cucumbers , two varieties. The green ones as normal top middle and the yellow round ones are called lemon crystal cucumbers.. Very tasty.

Crystal Lemon Cucumber

French Beans

This is just a mornings pickings of french dwarf beans. This year we decided to try the yellow variety. These freeze well, and all of these were frozen after washing and preparing them. We also have had a great harvest of Runner Beans.. We have been eating these as an when and supplying neighbours with free handouts as they are better eaten when young and tender…

The allotment has given us great yields this year, and the excess of tomatoes that always seem to ripen at once has meant I have been able to make fresh tomato soup… Recipe of which you can find Here which shows you how I have made it in the past.

Blackberries

As well as picking lots of blackberries from our bushes we keep behind our garden sheds, we have also had lots of raspberries.. That is until the wet windy cooler weather came. And then in a matter of a couple of days, many had spoilt and went mouldy… So I was pleased I had made the effort and got some into the freezer before they spoilt… Looking forward to Apple and Blackberry Pie 🙂

We have had some very stormy strong winds with driving torrential rain at times, and while I listened to the forecast of these storms coming. I went to tie up my gladioli and make sure my dahlias were secured.. I thought my Sunflowers which hubby had staked would be secure… But the wind was so strong it snapped several of them clean off. Below are the survivors.

Sun Flowers

You can see how high these are above the green house and you can see some of the stalks that snapped in the wind.

Sun Flowers

These fared better in the wind and you can see how high these have grown as hubby is 6ft tall.

Behind these Sunflowers is the nettle patch for insects and nettle tea for me leaves best picked in spring for this 🙂 and the Blackberry bushes How to make nettle tea Link HERE

By the way you should be able to click onto these images and open up to view larger.

My flower garden has given me extra pleasure this year, and below are just a few blooms in a Slide show to end this post. I hope you have all had a wonderful August.. The days are now beginning to draw in and the chill in the air can also now be felt. Take care all of you and thank you for dropping by… Have a Wonderful September and HAPPY GARDENING!

  • Red Dazzler- Cosmos
  • Begonia
  • Dahlias and Gladioli from garden
  • Dahlia
  • Corner Garden
  • Pathway to Light

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy. Lao Tzu

And there is nothing like loosing yourself in the garden and BE-ing in the present as you become NON-Being in the Moment…. That is my quote 😉 ~Love and Blessings Sue 💚

84 thoughts on “Harvesting Time”

  3. Awww! Harvest time my favorite time of the year especially in Autumn. So many good memories and look at all your harvest. Also nothing like the pride that goes behind harvest time. Not the same as buying from your local grocery store and the taste of the fruits and vegetables are that much more and what we should be getting in the grocery stores.
    Those sunflowers are so tall. I love sunflowers. Had them on my property when I owned a house. Good memories also.
    Love your quote. It says it all and for me encapsulates oneness while being in the moment. Be well my friend and I wish you a week of wonderful surprises and sunshine.<3 ❤ ❤

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  4. OH YUMMO!
    Beautiful looking harvest!
    Now I’m hungry! We’ve had a lot of tomatoes this year, and I’ve been making tomato sauces.
    I freeze more than we eat!
    Crazy, but suddenly we have massive amounts of green grapes. I’d like to find something to do with them.
    Think I’ll search that one.
    Grape jelly has too, much sugar, and I doubt my wine making skills, as I have none.
    Happy eating, Sue!! ❤ ❤

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  6. You make me dream! What a crop ! Your efforts have been rewarded .
    I have a veggie garden too but this year we got the drought ( in France )
    I have a daughter who lives in England who has a somptuous garden such the yours.
    Felicitations
    ps: I know you via House of the heart.

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    • So nice to meet you through our beautiful friend Holly…. We had it dry for a month back in may… We had to carry water on our allotment plot back then daily and as our water cistern closest to us also at that time broke… Hubby and I were carrying water for three weeks over 80 yards… back and forth many times in a morning… So yes we are always thankful for the rain, though at times it doesn’t know when to stop LOL… Thank you kindly for your visit and lovely comment 😀

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    • Thank you so very much… and yes nothing quite beats the generosity of our Earth Mother and her bountiful harvest gifts…. We are always grateful for the fruits of our labours…. It is most satisfying to reap in what we have sown… Many thanks again…. ❤ ❤

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  10. We just had our first day of Spring ‘down under’ dear lady. It was a delight to feel that earthy warm breeze again 😀
    As usual you have gained a beautiful crop Sue, must be that love you mix with each seed you plant, flower, fruit or vegetable. Mind you, those sunflowers are huge, did you cuddle them each day? 😂 🤣

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    • Wow Mark, first day of Spring… While our nights draw back in and the weather gets cooler.. 🙂 You have much to look forward to… As the Earth rejuvenates herself… We have indeed had a beautiful crop all around… Our potatoes which hubby is in the process of digging up one row at a time each day weather permitting, the potatoes are not as large as we had hoped to say we watered well during Spring in the dry month of May… But we cannot grumble … Today I picked sweetcorn and froze quite a few of those… as well as weeding between them….
      I didn’t cuddle them Mark, but I do talk to plants often…. I took a lovely photo today of bees in the centre of one and blue skies overhead, all to share for another time… And I am sure Love has a lot to do with nature and plants…. A pity some humans can not find the same recipe… 😉
      Enjoy your Spring dear Mark.. and thank you my friend 🙂

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  12. Absolutely loved this post about your harvest, flowers and general overall garden happening. I just turned 68 a week ago now so am five and a half years past my expiration date, as it were. I nearly died in 2015 as you know but my heart is still doing well with its’ artificial valve. Do take care my good friend. xoxo

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    • I am certain Renee you have loads more mileage within your engine yet my friend and happy you enjoyed the garden update…. Sending HUGE HUGS your way dear Renee…. And I hope those paint brushes are stroking the new canvas… 🙂 💖🙏😘

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  13. Lovely Sue, thank you for sharing Mother Earth’s bounty. What a wonderful crop and I hadn’t heard of crystal cucumbers. Your flowers are beautiful too and those sunflowers. WOW. How you’ve managed to nurture the plants through the storms and changeable weather we’ve been having, is testimony to you and your hubbie’s natural loving energy and thoughtfulness. September always feels like a time of re-birth to me, much more so than Spring’s awakening. Thank you for bringing Mother Earth’s bounty to us here. Much love, always with huge hugs. Xxxxx 💕🌺💜🙏💙♥️🌼🌹💚

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    • Thank you dear Jane… We hadn’t heard of the Crystal lemon cucumbers either until last year when we grew them for the first time.. Having seen them in the allotment seed catalogue.. We are very pleased with them… Just enough for two of us if you do not allow them to grow too large… and refreshing and tasty… Yes Sept always busy for us as we harvest, freeze and preserve… So pleased I brought a little of Mother Nature into your world… I am sure your own garden is thriving too with all that Love and attention you have been nurturing 😀 .. Much love from us both ❤ 💖🙏😘🌹

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  15. Another harvest, another veritable banquet in the making Sue. It appears your tried and tested formula of solid preparation, hard work, good planning and careful nurturing – is delivering bountiful rewards again this year. You sound pleased, and so you should: ’tis a great effort.

    I’m fascinated by the Crystal Lemon Cucumbers, intrigued by the dwarf beans, and delighted to see the Sunflowers – still standing after stormy weather – reaching for the sky, gold and radiant, and basking in the late summer sunshine. The Begonia’s are beautiful, the Dahlias dizzying, and the Red Dazzler-Cosmos, scintillating.

    Love the idea of having a wild, nettled, patch for insects to thrive.

    Always a pleasure to see the allotmenteer’s year unfurl. No doubt you and hubby will do it all again next year: a labor of love you both enjoy. Great stuff.

    Until next time, stay safe and well,

    DN

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    • Thank you dear Dewin, always a delight to have your presence on the plot my friend… and happy to introduce you to the crystal cucumber… easy to grow and tasty… the skin is prickly, so you peel like an apple.. and slice… like a cucumber.. the seeds are a little larger but edible…. The begonia just one in the pot on the back… I have a row of them on my front garden in pots…. I really should take a photo of them, they have been a picture..
      The nettle patch… If you remember a couple of years ago we cleared and I dug over the whole back of the sheds and we had our pumpkins there…. But this year it was a little too much so we let the small nettle patch I kept there to expand…. And the butterflies have loved it.. The Red Admirals only lay their eggs on stinging nettles so hopefully we will contribute to more being seen next year.. 🙂
      And yes Dewin we will do it all again next year… Still lots more growing…. Though our parsnips this year were a disaster… we planted two lots of seeds… and we only have around ten that germinated… Don’t know what happened there… But we are leaving those in to germinate new seeds…. as other allotmenteers also said their parsnips didnt germinate… We are saving more of our own seeds… 🙂
      Wonderful to see you Dewin… Sending thoughts and well wishes my friend and thank you 🙂

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      • Thanks Sue, I always enjoy your updates on Dreamwalker’s Garden, and have learnt much by visiting.

        Dare I admit that I’m not at all partial to cucumbers, squashes, Brussel-sprouts, or parsnips (I love peas, beans, and broccoli!) lol BUT I know the family are veggie enthusiasts – two are vegetarians and two are vegans – and I’ll strongly recommend they give the crystal cucumber a go. I can then examine it further first-hand. Thanks for the introduction.

        We’ve been a bit light on flowering plants in the garden this year – two new puppies put paid to the idea of having a little blooming colour – otherwise we’d have had potted Begonia’s like yours to admire. They are beautiful and your’s is a fine specimen: such a rich, vibrant colour.

        I do indeed remember the pumpkin patch – was it really two years ago?! – and wondered if you were going to grow them this year. I think it a great idea to have left it for the butterflies. I’m led to believe that as many as 40 different types of insects are supported by nettles, which in turn provide sustenance for a wide variety of other wildlife like frogs, hedgehogs, birds, and shrews. Speaking of which, we have a hedgehog frequenting parts of our garden, which is often seen whilst out-and-about on its nightly course.

        Perhaps you’ll have more success with the parsnips next year. Do you have any idea why the crop failed?

        Thanks Sue. Have a wonderful weekend. Look after one and all,

        DN

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        • Wonderful you have new puppies Dewin and I guess I am lucky in that I grew up having to eat everything on my plate or I went hungry lol… So I learnt early on to like everything.. 🙂 if you didn’t my other four siblings would soon eat it from your plate… And there were no seconds.. lol
          squash I was introduced to in my adult years and enjoy making soups or bulking out veggie curries with them… 😀

          Yes Time flies Dewin and no pumpkins set this year…. But another allotmenteer grows plenty and sells them proceeds go to charity..
          Fantastic about your hedgehogs…. Wonderful…… Sadly we have not seen any in our garden this year…. Which really saddened me…. Especially as we had some nestling in our hedgehog box last Summer/Autumn.
          As for the parsnips, I cannot say… why… others too say they set twice, so maybe the weather, or the seeds…. but we bought from different seed suppliers for second batch…
          But on an upward note our leeks last year did not grow well, this year they are thriving.. So you win some and lose some.. But that is gardening…. No two years ever the same… 😀
          Many thanks Dewin… loved your reply… Enjoy your weekend.. 😀

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  16. Looks like your garden has done good this year. Alas – Arkansas is a pile of mud this year. Can’t get in the garden to check the watermelons (too wet). Loved seeing all the pictures of your garden and the great produce you picked. Hope all is well with you. Take care and stay safe. xoxoxo

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  18. A wonderful harvest for you, my friend. We, too, have had a great year in the garden. It’s the first year we have been able to grow corn, and it was a bounty. We have thirty pounds of potatoes. Peas fill the freezer. I’ve been picking blueberries for three weeks, and there were so many strawberries I had to open up the picking to neighbors.

    It’s a good feeling, yes? So much satisfaction given by the Earth. Makes me wonder why more people don’t give it a try.

    I hope this finds you well. Take care, my friend!

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    • Bill thank you for your patience in my answering your comment.. Somehow it got overlooked in my notifications.. So pleased your potato crop and pea crop a huge success.. And our freezer well full of peas.. Our potatoes are not as large as we had hoped… We have been digging them up all week drying them and bagging them in sacks..
      Good to hear also your blueberries have been a good crop.. Likewise I was pleased with ours it was our best year yet for them on our new bushes which perhaps are just three or four years old and not very big as yet..
      And yes a great feeling of satisfaction harvesting our own produce grown from seed..
      I would recommend growing your own, even if its in a few pots to start with… I even have extra Kidney beans/ Runner Beans on my patio.. which gave lovely shade, red flowers and now beautiful beans.. 😀
      Enjoy your weekend Bill.. And Thank YOU.. 🙂 you too take care.

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  22. A great post, Sue. I’ve never seen those round yellow cucumbers before and I also haven’t seen yellow French beans. What a wonderful haul you’ve had this year. Pity about your sunflowers, but these things do happen with gardening.

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  23. Enjoyable to see the fruits of your labour thriving, nature continues to nourish even in these trying times, I love your round cucumbers, they look similar to our Apple cucumber, very delicious inside and beautiful in sandwiches, extremely refreshing, we are into our Asparagus season here now, also delicious freshly picked, steamed and placed in a long roll, butter, pepper and sprinkled with grated cheese, heartwarming to the mind, cheers.

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    • We have just one Asparagus plant growing the spears came only one at a time not enough for one serving.. But it is a young plant and so I let it grow into the ferns and added them to my flower displays lol 😀 Love Asparagus… Delicious!
      Apple Cucumbers sound very similar Ian..
      Thank you so very much Ian…. and Cheers right back at you 😀

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  24. wow! every time I get to see a glimpse into your garden, it makes me want to move to a place that we could have one! so much beauty, health and love in each piece of food that you grew………..

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