From Plot to Plate - Summers Glut

A bit of sunshine really does seem to make people happier and it's great to see people enjoying the great outdoors. But there does come a time, with a severe lack of rain that I start to panic. 

I've spent months upon month researching, planning, carefully sowing and nurturing my crops and the prospect of drought damaging them before I could harvest was pretty daunting. 

Luckily, we have a water trough on the plot and I've spent every other day down the allotment making sure everything got a thorough soak (although after about 5 minutes it had evaporated already!).

I've also started to harvest my carrots (they're definitely not shop worthy in terms of looks but they taste amazing!), my apple tree is in full swing and the raspberries are early! This is the first time I've had a variety of crops to harvest and I'm ridiculously excited about it. 

Courgettes

The watering seems to have paid off - not only has nothing seemed to suffer but I have had courgettes coming out of my ears! They appear to absolutely love this weather.It's a common issue vegetable growers face when it comes to courgettes - you end up with a glut and you have no idea what to do with them. You can only give so many away and you can only incorporate them in to so many dishes. So why not try baking with them? They add a great amount of moisture to a cake - so why not give it a try with my favourites or take a look at all of the courgette recipes. 

Carrots

I've grown carrots in the ground this year as well as in my vegetable trug in the garden. Although the ground grown ones are bigger, they definitely don't look as 'perfect' as the trug grown ones.

It's purely down to the fact that I can control the soil in the trug and so I know there are no stones and no moles digging holes underneath! 

Needless to say - they both taste absolutely fantastic, the flavour is so much fresher and stronger. 

Why not use your glut of courgette and your glut of carrot to make these delicious Wholemeal Carrot & Courgette Muffins? 

Not taking your fancy? Why not take a look at all of our carrot recipes? There's bound to be something you've just got to try. 

View all Carrot Recipes

Raspberries

Although I grow Autumn fruiting Raspberries, they are fruiting earlier than usual. I'm not awash with raspberries just yet but there are plenty to pick and use.

With the weather being so warm, I didn't want to stand and bake for too long and I needed something that was fresh and light, so I decided to whip up a batch of lemon & raspberry baked doughnuts. My goodness, they are tasty! They are so light and the raspberry and lemon combination give them a real zing. 

If you have more raspberries to play with, why not try making some homemade raspberry jam? 

Raspberry Jam Recipe

Raspberry & Prosecco Jam Recipe

Strawberry & Raspberry Jam Recipe

Still need more inspiration? Check out all the raspberry recipes for something to tickle your taste buds.

Apples

The apple tree in my garden is full of deliciously crisp apples. They are only small but they sure pack a punch. There is so much you can do with an apple, whether you want to make Crab Apple Jelly, make a classic Apple Pie or mix it up with Apple Doughnut Muffins - we have so many apple recipes that really make the most of this deserving fruit! 

We have 60 fantastic apple recipes, so why not give one a try? You might find your new favourite!

View all Apple Recipes

While I'm enjoying harvesting some delicious crops, there are plenty that still need nurturing. The tomatoes are starting to ripen, the tenderstem brocolli is nearly ready to cut back and the butternut squash is taking over the whole bed. Check in next month to see whether I've managed to keep the remaining crops healthy during this weather and what delicious bakes we can whip up. Until next time