Summer vegetable harvest

I should have brought along a scale ruler. That way you could see just how enormous these gold courgettes (zucchini) have grown. They don’t even fit the screen. Whoppers. About 30 centimetres (a foot) in length.

But they have not turned into marrows, I hasten to add. Still firm to the touch and I will add them to marjoram, garlic and a pinch of chilli flakes for tomorrow’s dinner.

And for fun, instead of chopping them I will use a veggie peeler to make long ribbons which looks more festive on the plate.

I had to resort to buying my lettuce alas. And I had one good picking of dwarf French beans. Most of these plants here are a few weeks off fruiting.

But one big surprise today was the fig tree at the very back of the potager. I planted a Brown Turkey fig here a few years back and have left things alone. No pruning, nothing more than tying in the wayward branches. And wondering if it will ever produce.

Here is the crop.  The figs aren’t mouth wateringly juicy. They seem quite pale in colour; I was hoping for that deep purple we all yearn for in a fig.

But I picked the lot – no leaving them for the hornets and wasps – and think they will be perfect drizzled with a bit of warmed honey and a handful of chopped walnuts.