Post by murrayc on Aug 27, 2016 8:16:02 GMT
It is the same every year, but this last month's adroit mixture of rain showers and heat seems to have combined to produce an even greater yield from courgettes, beans of all kinds, beetroots, chard and spinach. Every day I go down to the plot with the memory of yesterday's finger-sized courgettes only to be confronted at the turn of each leaf with a monster that seems to be modelled on a World War Two barrage ballon. .What's to be done with them all ?
My neighbours now hide fearfully behind their curtains and refuse to come to the door lest they hear the dreaded words "Just been down to the allotment and wondered if you would like a few spare veg?". The freezer is full with broad beans and now french beans and courgette soup, and Pat spends her days researching new pickles and preservation methods. Come the winter we will pay serious money in Sainsburys for an indifferent courgette or imported fennel bulb to enliven our meals and vary diet, but in the meantime we resort to giving away produce or letting it rot. This seems altogether wasteful, but unless you have a large family you are never going to be able to use up each day's fresh harvest, even from the most modestly planted row.
Even giving it away produces few takers. I have placed that wheelbarrow with its cargo and placard outside my house, only to overhear the classic comment "Funny looking cucumbers aren't they?". If the Food Bank would take fresh produce I would happily take it to them. Does anyone on the Forum know of any organisation that will take vegetable surplus, any care homes or similar charitable associations? I'm sure that others here must be in the same position and pergaps with access to a good distribution network we could do some good for others as well as enjoying our hobby.
My neighbours now hide fearfully behind their curtains and refuse to come to the door lest they hear the dreaded words "Just been down to the allotment and wondered if you would like a few spare veg?". The freezer is full with broad beans and now french beans and courgette soup, and Pat spends her days researching new pickles and preservation methods. Come the winter we will pay serious money in Sainsburys for an indifferent courgette or imported fennel bulb to enliven our meals and vary diet, but in the meantime we resort to giving away produce or letting it rot. This seems altogether wasteful, but unless you have a large family you are never going to be able to use up each day's fresh harvest, even from the most modestly planted row.
Even giving it away produces few takers. I have placed that wheelbarrow with its cargo and placard outside my house, only to overhear the classic comment "Funny looking cucumbers aren't they?". If the Food Bank would take fresh produce I would happily take it to them. Does anyone on the Forum know of any organisation that will take vegetable surplus, any care homes or similar charitable associations? I'm sure that others here must be in the same position and pergaps with access to a good distribution network we could do some good for others as well as enjoying our hobby.