God I love growing our own

[enrico]

I have wanted to do this for so long...

A couple of weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to pick some perry pears from a local orchard. There were two of us interested and we picked around 75kg of pears between us. This afternoon we took them to the premises of a local orchard group to crush them and then press them using a hydropress, which I've never used before. I can't deny that it was very impressive. You'd never think that just tap water pressure would extract so much juice.

In the end we split forty litres of juice between us. Now the interesting bit starts...

James

Used a water press for the first time this year. 60 litres of apples turned into 25 bottles which fit perfectly into my honey warmer from Lidl (jam maker) for pasteurising.

 

[JamezF]

I am guessing the leftovers will be compost or will it make feed for something ? What is the interesting bit, does it involve alcohol ?

The spent pomace has to be taken away from the orchard group's place with you, so I have taken it all and it will go on the compost. It is incredibly dry and quite difficult to break up. The "interesting bit" is getting it to ferment and produce alcohol, as you correctly surmise. It's the pear equivalent of cider, basically.

James

 

[fian]

Drying/smoking is a well-known process in the Atlantic arc of the peninsula.
In Spain there are two areas that stand out for their paprika (sweet, spicy or bittersweet), which are La Vera and Murcia. Paprika is nothing more than varieties of dried or smoked red pepper and ground very fine.
In the region of La Vera (Extremadura) they smoke it while in Murcia it is dried in the heat of the Mediterranean.
There are two very important factors in smoking:
A. The type of wood is generally oak or holm oak but any non-resinous wood can be used.
B. The free height between the ember and the element to be smoked.

 

[JamezF]

Used a water press for the first time this year. 60 litres of apples turned into 25 bottles which fit perfectly into my honey warmer from Lidl (jam maker) for pasteurising.

The group have a number of 14-bottled pasteurisers that they rent out, but have just installed a much larger three-phase unit that will apparently do around 100 bottles at a time. It's quite a beast.

James

 

[Penninetrader]

The spent pomace has to be taken away from the orchard group's place with you, so I have taken it all and it will go on the compost. It is incredibly dry and quite difficult to break up. The "interesting bit" is getting it to ferment and produce alcohol, as you correctly surmise. It's the pear equivalent of cider, basically.

James

Great, pear cider is the preferred summer drink for me and my good lady.

 

[holmbee]

Just taken advantage of a 40% price reduction to order tomato seeds for next year. Old favourites Ailsa Craig, Gardener's Delight and St Pierre (third year). Plus Abraham Lincoln - second year, really impressed last year good size, good crop and great taste. New this year are Moonglow and Golden Sunrise. All to be grown in unheated greenhouse.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Next year I will be growing Polish Linguisa and Faworyt for processing and Sungold for the table. @pargyle gave me some seeds from his famous blight free plants so I will put those outside.
I bought some seeds of long orange peppers last year and as the weather has been poor they have taken a long time to ripen. They are on the small side but ………..HOT! So they aren’t peppers!

 

[E&MBees]

Just taken advantage of a 40% price reduction to order tomato seeds for next year. Old favourites Ailsa Craig, Gardener's Delight and St Pierre (third year). Plus Abraham Lincoln - second year, really impressed last year good size, good crop and great taste. New this year are Moonglow and Golden Sunrise. All to be grown in unheated greenhouse.

Where did you buy them from? I would be interested to know. Thanks

 

[holmbee]

Where did you buy them from? I would be interested to know. Thanks

Plant World I think sale ends today

 

[Amari]

I grew my customary five rows of spuds on my allotment this year - but maybe no need. The spuds grown in a huge
(?100acres) field opposite have been harvested leaving copious small and medium sized spuds behind - easily accessed from the footpath running alongside. It took me less than 10 minutes to glean 14lbs using a litter-picker.
https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-francois-millet/the-gleaners-1857

 

[E&MBees]

I’m growing some charlotte potatoes in pots in the greenhouse for Christmas. They are coming along nicely now.

 

[enrico]

I’m growing some charlotte potatoes in pots in the greenhouse for Christmas. They are coming along nicely now.

Worked well for us last year, left it too late this year

 

[Murox]

Yum. Charlotte, one the best in my opinion.

 

[JamezF]

Yum. Charlotte, one the best in my opinion.

The only one I grow, now. And we use them for everything from new potatoes to baking spuds.

James

 

[Penninetrader]

I grew my customary five rows of spuds on my allotment this year - but maybe no need. The spuds grown in a huge
(?100acres) field opposite have been harvested leaving copious small and medium sized spuds behind - easily accessed from the footpath running alongside. It took me less than 10 minutes to glean 14lbs using a litter-picker.
https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-francois-millet/the-gleaners-1857
View attachment 41558

Got there before the pigs

 

[JamezF]

Remind me again what month it is?

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

picked some alpine strawberries yesterday, and there's still quite a few left waiting to turn colour

 

[roche]

Well, after the total non event of spring onions earlier in the year, We finally got to do a comparitive test...

The spring onions on the left are from a different supplier, the ones on the right are from the original supplier.
The same number of seeds from each were planted at the same time, and the conditions have been identical.
I might have another go next year...

 

[Midget Gem]

Well, after the total non event of spring onions earlier in the year, We finally got to do a comparitive test...
View attachment 41647
The spring onions on the left are from a different supplier, the ones on the right are from the original supplier.
The same number of seeds from each were planted at the same time, and the conditions have been identical.
I might have another go next year...

Who are the suppliers and what variety? I struggle to get spring onions to germinate.

 

[Macbear]

I gave up on spring onion seeds years ago. Patchy success and buying seeds every year. I now grow Everlasting Onions, (Allium cepa perutile). They are hardy and perennial onion which self divide into clumps. They don't flower or bolt. To harvest you simply cut off what you want above the roots and are happy to be harvested throughout the year. Can be used raw or cooked - e.g. my wife occasionally puts them in her omelettes or good in cheese on toast. No, they don't grow thick or tall like some prefer their spring onions, but they are much more substantial than chives and have a smallish bulb. Moderate strength taste.
Clumps can be split to propagate new stock. They are not prone to diseases in my experience and available quite widely - a got mine from a certain online flea market about 15 years ago, and give them a bit of onion feed [5-19-10+3Mg] and a light top dressing of spent compost [at the end of the season from garden pot plants] and they are as happy as Larry. I started with 5 weedy-looking specimens which I let establish for about 6 months and now have a row 8 metres long and have given clumps away to other local gardeners.
If you use spring onions a lot, maybe start off with more specimens than I did and split them up a few times before harvesting in earnest.
I have moved the entire row a couple of times to avoid soil exhaustion etc., but that is over the whole time that I have had them.
Would I go back to growing spring onions? No!