home-grown new potatoes
When all’s said and done, I am underwhelmed by the number of potatoes that came out of the finishing off compost bin. True, there is still the other half to dig out. And more came out than went in. But if memory serves me right, I got as many last year from the potato peelings that weren’t intended to provide a crop.
Ah well, it has been very dry. And nothing can dampen the feeling of raspberry picking earlier in the day.
raspberry picking – how much can you cram into one basket?
My daughter was as engaged as me with the process of finding and choosing the fruit to put in our basket. I’m so pleased that this is a moment we shared.
I was also aware of how soothing the process was. Yes, if I had to do this day in day out on the minimum wage I might feel differently. But as a one off it is definitely something we will be doing next year.
So why pick your own instead of buying punnets at the shops?
1. It’s fun.
2. There are no airmiles, though sadly the farm closest to us has closed down or at least stopped growing fruit for the public to pick.
3. The packaging was a cardboard basket and not non-recyclable plastic.
4. For £15 I was able to buy about three kilos of fruit. Now how much would all that cost in supermarket punnets?
The upshot is that I made raspberry sorbet (brilliant buy last month, my ice cream maker), jam and two thirds of the fruit in the freezer for winter use. It would be brilliant if I could get this much from my back garden but you can’t have everything.
Growing out of chaos 
It is more fun when you can pick as well as enjoy the fruits of your labor with a loved one. How neat is that?! Even though the potato bounty wasn’t huge it is still beat to grow your own food! Have a wonderful week to come! Cheers, Koko 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Koko. I think the potatoes will be enjoyed this evening 🙂
Have a great week, too!
Sounds like fun! And that raspberry sorbet yum .. Oh not good news on the spuds though damn ..
We went to a Vegan Festival in June where they were selling raspberry sorbet. £3 per portion. On top of the amount of plastic I was collecting from buying other ice cream, I realised an ice cream maker was the way to go.
Sorbet still works out quite expensive because of the level of fruit needed to make it but it’s not a totally unhealthy dessert (if you discount the sugar!).
Awesome update Helen thanks for sharing it is lovely to pick your own fruit even if you go to a farm to do it have blessed day
Thank you, Linda. Same to you 🙂
That’s a lot of raspberries!
Yes, we got a very good deal 🙂