My homegrown harvest, July 2019.

July's been a month of raspberries.  Sooo many raspberries.  I only have autumn fruiting raspberries, but that doesn't seem to be stopping them fruiting now!

I've had loads of greens too, which I've been shredding, wilting in boiled water, then squeezing into little handfuls to freeze, so I can use it later in the year.

We had our first, one and only cherry, it was delicious, the variety is 'sweetheart'.

My 'discovery' apples started falling off the tree so I picked them all, which was a mistake as they're SUPER sour and nowhere near ripe!  They're on the windowsill, I hope they'll soak up some sun and get a bit sweeter. 

I didn't manage to grow any carrots last year so yey for carrots this year!  The variety is 'berlicum' and they're really nice. 

I've also had loads of strawberries, purple snap peas, potatoes, beets, some baby onions and a little baby garlic.

What have you been growing this month?

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Easy green actions and articles.

Here are a few easy online actions and interesting articles to make the world a better, greener, happier, place, 

Can we plant a trillion trees to fight climate change?  I hope so! 

Sign Friends of the Earth's petition asking to double tree cover in the UK.

Sign WWF's petition asking the world's governments to act on plastic pollution.

Morrisons is introducing a plastic free fruit and veg section, which will save 3 tonnes of plastic packaging per week!

It's Plastic free July this month!  Head to their website if you're looking for support to stop using so much plastic.  I'm using the challenge as an excuse to post any unrecyclable plastic packaging I use this month back to it's producer.

The good old National Trust is going to sell all it's shares in fossil fuels and invest in green and eco companies instead. 

'I have watched and silently wept this spring as trees ready for nesting, forget me nots in full bloom, and buttercups about to burst forth have all been clipped and ripped, torn and shredded. And in their place? Nothing. Under the rules of good husbandry, this sort of pruning and weeding makes your plot look perfect and well-ordered, the soil pleasingly flat and tickled. But I am going to take my feminist rage at this word, husbandry, and rip it up like it has done to the wild things. Enough of this obsession with control and order'

I love this article from Alys Fowler in the Guardian, about how to weed in a wildlife-friendly way.

Here's 7 things you can do to help stop insect decline. 

A Greenpeace study has found plastic in every single river in the UK, ask your MP to do something about it! 

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My homegrown harvest, June 2019.

Things are finally growing in my garden!  These are the first potatoes of the year - it was a mix of varieties.  The potatoes aren't quite ready so I just rummaged around in the soil and pulled out some big feeling potatoes without disturbing the plants too much! 

I've had my first raspberries.  I'm slightly perturbed that these are my 'autumn bliss' raspberries and they're all coming now!  Is this climate change?  Did I prune them crazy wrong last year?  What will I eat in autumn!?

The first strawberries have arrived too, I only eat home grown strawbs so these are a proper treat.  The first ever yellow raspberries came, a small total harvest of 5 berries but there's a big cane growing already for next year.  Purple snap peas and tons of kale and chard too.

I'm trying to keep up with picking and drying home grown herbs this year, I've picked oregano and mint this month to dry.  

I trimmed the onion tops back and ended up with a washing up bowl full of onion tops!  I washed and chopped them all, froze two boxes full, and popped another box in the fridge to be used up in stir fries, fritters, Joe's omelettes and I made a particularly delicious green onion pancake too.  I thinned out my cabbage seedlings and ate them, because waste not want not. 

It's all about the berries though this month, I've been out picking them every day! 

That's about it for this month, have you been harvesting much from the garden this month?

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