Really getting into the swing of English country life now.
Those redcurrants look lovely but what a pain to get them all off the stems and into jars. But, before you think we are too lazy, we have made quite a few jars of blackcurrant jam and what gardener doesn’t have excess courgettes?
There’s not much passing traffic but most people can’t resist a freebie so most of it will go.
Have a good weekend whatever you are planning
Tialys 
#1 by nanacathy2 on July 31, 2021 - 11:36
I bet those sweet peas smell divine. And courgettes yum yum.
#2 by tialys on July 31, 2021 - 12:44
They do smell lovely and, if nobody takes them, I’ll just have to display them in more jam jars around the place. Got to keep picking them or they’ll stop growing – which I wish would hold true for the courgettes as I can only say ‘yum yum another courgette’ so many times.🤣
#3 by CurlsnSkirls on July 31, 2021 - 15:08
Oh, the courgettes do look yummy & I don’t believe I’ve ever smelt sweet peas . . . getting my gaiters on!
#4 by tialys on August 1, 2021 - 20:11
They do smell lovely and, next year, the Head Gardener is going to grow some even more highly scented ones.
#5 by CurlsnSkirls on August 1, 2021 - 22:25
Wonderful!
Kudos to the Head Gardner!
#6 by simplylive1452 on July 31, 2021 - 17:40
Your garden produce looks lovely! We place out a similar Free produce stand for our neighbours. And your right about the courgettes! We call them summer squash or zucchini and we can’t keep up with how much they produce. Thanks for the post.
#7 by tialys on August 1, 2021 - 20:10
I did tell my husband to only plant one or two plants but he obviously didn’t listen!!
#8 by Wild Daffodil on July 31, 2021 - 21:34
All looks so good! How lovely to have enough to share.
#9 by tialys on August 1, 2021 - 20:14
More than enough!! It nearly all went yesterday – all the sweet peas disappeared and we’ve probably upset the inhabitants of a cottage further down the lane who sell mixed bunches of sweet peas for £3.
p.s. Had our second lovely Sunday lunch at the New Inn at Stoke Abbott today. They’ve recently won an award so your ancestors’ pub is doing well.
#10 by Laurie Graves on August 1, 2021 - 04:35
Summer’s bounty! So delicious. Especially the jam.
#11 by tialys on August 1, 2021 - 20:15
Yes, blackcurrant jam is a favourite but we don’t use redcurrants much so may as well give them away to somebody who might.
#12 by craftycreeky on August 1, 2021 - 10:19
I love sweet peas but I rarely seem to have any luck growing them, I probably don’t nurture them enough when they’re little. I seem to remember as a child we used a fork to get red and black currants off the sprigs.
#13 by tialys on August 1, 2021 - 20:17
Using a fork is a good idea but I think the redcurrants are more fiddly than the blackcurrants and, to be honest, we don’t have much call for redcurrants so may as well share the bounty especially as it wasn’t us who planted those bushes.
#14 by katechiconi on August 1, 2021 - 22:12
Yes, the fork is definitely the way to strip currants. I’m not a fan of either red or black currants as fruit. My Ma used to make a nice cordial from black currants, a bit of a Ribena precursor, which she gave us when we had a cold, but that’s the extent of my tolerance. I would have taken your courgettes. I use about one a day, grated for salad or into stews or spag bol sauce, or turned into ‘noodles’. I couldn’t use a kilo a day, though. Two plants would be ample, especially if planted a couple of weeks apart so one was more advanced and the other could take over when the first died of exhaustion! And I’d definitely have taken your sweet peas!
#15 by tialys on August 2, 2021 - 08:32
I do like blackcurrant jam and they’re a little easier to harvest than redcurrants. We don’t eat any game so redcurrant jelly would sit around in the cupboard for ages and, although I like to see those little jewels sprinkled on top of a cheesecake or similar, a whole bush of them is a bit over the top plus they’re so pippy. I’ve noticed a few white currants on there too and surely there can be no excuse for those.
#16 by kathyreeves on August 1, 2021 - 22:17
Courgettes and zucchini are the same aren’t they? If yes, you can grate it and make zucchini breAd and zucchini brownies…very moist and yummy!
#17 by tialys on August 2, 2021 - 08:29
They are the same. I’ve roasted them, grilled them, grated them, made cakes with them, had enough of them 🤣 🥒🥒🥒
(I know they’re cucumbers but I’m having the same overload problem with those.)
#18 by Born To Organize on August 2, 2021 - 19:14
I love your note and the fine offerings at your gate.
#19 by tialys on August 6, 2021 - 15:14
It worked and there wasn’t much left at the end of the day.
#20 by tinaor on August 3, 2021 - 10:35
How fabulous to be able to offer for free. I hope there are other locals who grow alternatives to you – maybe you could end up swapping! Redcurrants remind me so much of my Mum’s fruit patch when I was growing up. Yes, a bit of a fiddle to take off the stems but the flavour of redcurrant jelly – fab! Courgettes, love them, best eaten in cake!
#21 by tialys on August 6, 2021 - 15:14
Most things are best eaten in cake aren’t they? 😉
So far, we have been given a punnet of black cherries our neighbour got from a ‘pick your own’ farm and an offer from a French neighbour to ring up a car insurance firm in France who are hounding my husband for what they claim is an unpaid renewal premium. My French isn’t bad but I’d rather leave that sort of thing to the experts.
#22 by tinaor on August 7, 2021 - 19:30
I love that! Yes, most things are definitely best eaten in cake! I have peaches in my kitchen that aren’t quite ripe enough to eat – looking forward to cooking those in some way ! I remember those daunted conversations where my french wasn’t good enough!!