This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Monday, 17 September 2012

September Veg-Edibles

Better late than never! I've had somewhat sparse harvests over the summer compared to last year, however, September has brought a more regular supply of cherry tomatoes, courgette/ zuchinni, herbs like parsley and basil, and beans (both 'scarlet emperor' and 'dwarf purple queen'). I've even managed a small bowl of peas - hooray! Two apples fell from the tree so they were brought in. 
Below - Maris Peer potatoes freshly dug, less of a yield than I'd hoped for but I'm happy enough with my bucket load.
Above: Carrots growing slowly in an old wheelbarrow.
Below: plenty of salads at the minute.
Above: Eggplant/aubergine still growing and more cherry tomatoes to ripen. I still haven't cooked any of the eggplant yet (this week I must).
Below: Purple  Curly  Kale has been used in stir fry and soups but looks good as an ornamental plant.
A question for experienced potato growers - 
Are these the culprits that like to burrow into potatoes?  
I discovered several of these quick-crawling wormy like creatures in the ground where I dug up the potatoes. 

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

16 comments:

  1. ~TastyTravels~17 September 2012 at 13:28

    What a fabulous and colorful harvest Kelli! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Egretta Wells blog17 September 2012 at 14:09

    Your harvest is beautiful! Your potatoes look good. I hope none of those wormy things got inside them. I have never seen those.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Martin and Amy17 September 2012 at 14:50

    Looks like a great harvest.

    I love the shape of those aubergeines, you must cook them soon, they will be absolutely delicious!!!

    Martin
    www.our-good-life.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. DesertSnowdrop17 September 2012 at 19:13

    I have no answer to your worm question, however, loving your harvest!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ann17 September 2012 at 21:02

    The potatoes look great. We dug ours, they were volunteer. But they haven't kept even though I put them in fridge. They are are already soft. You have a great harvest.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jo18 September 2012 at 01:11

    A nice harvest there, lots of variety. Don't know about your critter, but it looks like it has legs, is it a millipede?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sue Garrett18 September 2012 at 02:03

    The worms are spotted snake millipedes, Kelli. I have a post about then on this page of my blog. We first found some in a potato in 2010 but also found a cluster in a strawberry this year. They are just one thing that may be nibbling you potatoes as small slugs and wireworms burrow into potatoes too.

    As for harvest we are like you and things are coming into their own now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue Garrett18 September 2012 at 02:06

      Just looked at the picture again - the alternative is - if they are orange and wriggle quickly on the ground - they will be centipedes often mistakenly thought to be wireworm. These are insect eaters so won't harm your potatoes. Millipedes are vegetarian and centipededs are carnivores. It's just that I've usually seen the centipedes still in the vegetable or fruit.

      Delete
    2. Kelli19 September 2012 at 01:46

      Thanks Sue, I looked up the three and think maybe millipede.

      Delete
  8. Enchanted Moments18 September 2012 at 04:21

    Beautiful harvest....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kirsty @ Bowerbird Blue18 September 2012 at 08:29

    I don't think it's centipedes eating your potatoes. More likely curl grubs or wire worms - beetle larvae. I found mine were attacked more when they were under stress. They love heaps of manure. I love the look of that kale and your eggplants, I'm a sucker for purple in the vegie patch.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Janneke 18 September 2012 at 10:49

    What a delicious harvest you still have. Beautiful not too big potatoes and than the beauty of the purple curly cale, very decorative in the garden.
    In my little vegetable garden it's almost finished, still some red cales and salads and in the greenhouse still lots of tomatoes, but that's it.
    According to me the insect is a centipede.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Peggy18 September 2012 at 11:36

    Your bucket of potatoes is more than we got as blight as did everyone else on our allotments so enjoy!Great harvest and all the colours make it look even better.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mark Willis18 September 2012 at 13:17

    Very impressive aubergines, Kelli. It looks as if you have quality in your harvests, even if the quantities have been disappointing. I agree with Sue on the insects: definitely not worms, because they have legs and worms don't. Probably centipedes, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kelli19 September 2012 at 01:18

    Thanks everyone for the thoughts on the gold coloured insect. I googled wireworm, centipede and millipede and I think from the photos it looks more like a millipede. The conditions also suit a millipede - as they like to live in decaying organic matter and I had put decaying grass clippings around my growing potatoes as a mulch. The internet says millipedes will tunnel into potatoes and some of my potatoes indicated this. Not 100% sure, but millipede seems top of the list so far.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Malay-Kadazan girl21 September 2012 at 00:49

    Tell us what you have cook with the eggplant :).
    Gorgeous edibles there!
    Look so good, way better than the stores.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)