I asked the Digger to take a picture of his efforts. He did so but grumbled that it was a picture of “Nothing”. I replied firmly that this was a picture of onions, even if you can’t see them.

Japanese onions planted in the Big allotment

Given that the weather is getting much colder we decided to harvest the Pumpkins and Winter squash.

Pumpkins and Winter squash

Mmmmm. These are somewhat bigger than I was expecting. We are going to eat them not turn them into Halloween novelties so I’ll have to start searching out recipes. I’ve only grown small varieties before. The green Winter squash definitely doesn’t look like ‘Marina Di Chioggia’, the skin isn’t knobbly enough. I wonder if they are rogue seeds of some ‘Turks Turban’ variety. The deep orange ones are ‘Rouge Vif D’Etampes’. I’ve put them in front of the garage window in the hope that any sun will encourage their skins to harden off.

Orange Pumpkin 'Rouge Vif D'Etampes' and green Winter Squash

Stripping the leaves from the stalks.

BASIL PESTO
(Makes 3 pesto jars)

115g/4oz basil leaves
6 garlic cloves, crushed
115g/4oz pine nuts
115g/4oz freshly grated parmesan
235ml/8fl oz good olive oil

Method
1. Put all the ingredients into a food processor. Whiz until blended.
2. Put into small jars and cover surface with a thin layer of olive oil before putting on the lids. Keep in the fridge until used.

Blending all the ingredients

It’s best to use small jars as the sauce will oxidise and turn dark green if exposed to the air for any length of time. This would happen if it wasn’t used all at once. It doesn’t affect the taste but it looks better if the original colour is retained. I know this sauce is available in supermarkets everywhere but when made with fresh Basil the taste is superb!

Basil pesto in jars

Anyway at least the other two have appeared. This one I’ve had for many years and I don’t know its name. It refused to flower for ten (yes ten) years! I eventually moved it and three years later it produced a flower. Last year there were five flowers in total so it’s gradually increasing.

Colchicum

The other one is Colchicum autumnale ‘Pleniflorum’. It has large double pink flowers so it’s very prone to damage from heavy rain (and cats taking a nap). This year there are lots of flowers and it’s doing very well. As usual most of the flowers were prostrate, for whatever reason, so I propped them up with a brick. Next year I’ll have to find something more attractive to do the job.

Colchicum autumnale 'Pleniflorum'

I’ve been around the garden again and there’s still no sign of Colchicum number three (’Lilac Wonder’). It’s possible that some leaves may still appear as Colchicums flower before the foliage shows. I’ll keep an eye out.  There is also a chance it will pop up next year. Fingers crossed.

UPDATE!! - The plants have been identified. See comments.

Unknown plant 1: The first one was a magnet for insects despite the tiny flowers. It’s the one making a rather untidy bush directly behind the narrow trunk in the foreground of this picture.

Homalocladium platycladum

It has very narrow, pale green, strap like  leaves with small white flowers along the edge of each leaf. Any guesses as to what it is?

Homalocladium platycladum

Unknown plant 2: This was in a pot and the flowers remind me of a species Penstemon of some sort. The foliage is very narrow.

Russelia equisetiformis

The flowers are tubular and red. Is it a Penstemon or something else?

Russelia equisetiformis

Please, please save me from trawling the internet for hours. If the cuttings take I would like to give them a name other than ‘Unknown plant’.

Then came the real catastrophe - Arriving back home at Gatwick airport yesterday (Monday) it appeared the baggage handlers had only loaded about 20 suitcases on board and left the rest of the luggage in Greece. Presumably the Swiss airline company (Viking) was unaware that we passengers required our luggage to travel back with us. At no time did an employee stick their head into the hold and notice that it was practically empty. Consequently the holiday ended with everyone filling in missing luggage forms at Gatwick- whether we see our 4 pieces of luggage again is in the lap of the gods. Very appropriate for a Greek holiday.

My toes admire the view of Loggos on the island of Paxos, Greece

On the upside the holiday itself was lovely - We stayed in the small village of Loggos. There are five tavernas (restaurants) and four bars. Our villa had an attractive garden leading to a small beach, comfy sun loungers on a large terrace and wonderful views. This was paradise as far as I’m concerned. There were also interesting plants which I took cuttings from. I’ll post about that later. Oh no - I’ve just remembered - the cuttings are in my suitcase….Aaargh!!

The garden and the path leading down to the sea

Green tomatoes ripening indoors

Here is my recipe. As you see from the picture above it did not use up all my green tomatoes but at least it helped a little.

Chopped ingredients for Green Tomato Chutney

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY
(Makes 4 lb jars)

2lb green tomatoes (chopped)
8 oz onions (chopped)
1 lb cooking apples (peeled & chopped)
8 oz sultanas (or raisins, cranberries, chopped dried apricots etc)
8oz brown sugar
1 pint vinegar spiced or malt (but any other will do)
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 inch fresh ginger (peeled & finely chopped) or 2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon (or spice of choice)

1. Put all ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer uncovered until reduced to a thick mix. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. It should take 2 3/4 to 3 hours. Test by scraping a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan. If the pan bottom shows clear for a while before the chutney slowly fills the gap then it is ready. (In other words there should be very little thin liquid sloshing around).
3. Put into hot sterilised jars and seal.
4. Label when cool. Chutneys improve in flavour if kept for at least a couple of weeks before use.

Green Tomato Chutney simmering

Green Tomato Chutney - testing if it's ready. It is!

Green Tomato Chutney in jars

Tomatoes on a plate

So I’m making tomato sauce with the ripe tomatoes and stripping the tomato plants that are suffering from blight. The house is full of green tomatoes laid out to ripen. No doubt many will show signs of decay before they turn colour.  The French beans are fading now but the courgettes are still managing to sneak out the occasional courgette or two. The Runner beans are just getting into their stride - damn you beans, slow down! At least they are easy to freeze.

Runner beans 'White Lady'

Why am I looking forward to my holiday? Because I want sun and I’m sick of this rain sodden summer. Take a look at yesterday at 5.30pm. Yes I’m outside under an umbrella and it was as dark as it appears. I must be mad. The last day in August - would you believe it!

Rain in the garden

Clematis 'Sherriffii'

Clematis ‘Sherriffii’ is part of the Tangutica group of clematis and is in Pruning group 3. This means it needs hard pruning so I cut it back down to around 1/2m (2 ft) in late February or early March. Once it magically springs into life again (from what looks like a dead piece of wood) it grows to about 6m (20 ft) along a trellis.  It flowers from mid August and continues flowering into October and its common name is the Orange Peel clematis for obvious reasons. The nodding flowers are a lovely orange yellow and are followed by decorative fluffy seed heads which last for ages.

Clematis 'Sherriffii' seed heads

At the other end of the size scale from the clematis comes Cyclamen hederifolium, a delicate little flower which is also as tough as old boots. If you’ve got a dry area under a tree this is the flower for you, in fact it will grow almost anywhere except in soil that is too damp because the corms will rot. I have some growing in the bone dry soil under a Eucalyptus tree and they thrive there.

Cyclamen hederifolium

The flowers appear before the leaves and are in shades of pink or white. They seed like crazy and I have them all over the garden. It’s worth marking them otherwise you will always be digging them up by mistake once they die back. I’ve got corms up to 15cm (6 ins) across so it’s very easy to cut through one of them when planting something else. I love cyclamen in the garden, they are so elegant.

Cyclamen hederifolium

My machine takes the yeast first so reverse the order of the ingredients if yours takes liquids first. This recipe is for a loaf made with 1lb of flour. Note that the liquid is lower than the amount in an average recipe because of the moisture which the courgettes will exude.

One of these days I’ll get a descent picture of this cat instead of the blob of hairy blackness I usually get. He was too bored to even open his eyes. At least then he would have looked alive.

Courgette bread and Halki the silhouette cat

COURGETTE BREAD (for Bread Maker machine)

1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5ml) fast action dried yeast
13oz (375g) white bread flour
3oz (75g) wholemeal bread flour
6oz (175g) courgette (zucchini)
2 tablespoons (30ml) sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons (30ml) pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon (15ml) sesame seeds or linseed
1/2-1teaspoon (5-10ml) salt
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2oz (40g) butter
75ml milk
65ml water

1. Add the ingredients in the order above (or reverse the order if your machine takes liquids first).

2. Set the bread machine to basic/normal setting, medium crust and loaf size depending on your machine. (Mine is Medium size for 1lb of flour). Press start.

3. Remove bread at end of the baking cycle and put onto a wire rack to cool.