TOP & FLOP CROPS

‘SCARLET RUNNER’ BEANS:

Last year my perennial ‘Scarlet Runner’ vines only had a handful of beans. But this year, they came back better than ever despite zero effort – no watering, feeding or tying – from me.

There are only a handful of truly worthy perennial vege crops – rhubarb, bramble berries and strawberries being the others – but when ‘Scarlet Runner’ vines are at the peak of their game, they are unbeatable. When I was growing up, we ate them every summer and Mum says in 20 years on our farm, she never once had to resow them. For that fact alone, I‘ll forgive my plants for having an occasional off year.

DAMSONS:

After a mild spring I fretted over the fruit set of these small, sour purple plums (above) but I needn‘t have worried. My trees are laden, so let the gin bottling begin! Of course, if you need other delicious damson ideas, it would be remiss not to mention my book Damson: From Hedgerow to Harvest. Order signed copies at foggydalefarm.co.nz.

EGGPLANTS:

Some crops seem to play hard to get: the more you like them, the harder they are to grow. In late spring I bought a single grafted eggplant on a whim, but subsequently forgot to plant it. When I found it at the back of my nursery area six weeks later, half-starved and dry as a bone, it had seven large ripe fruit. All I had to do was pick them for the barbecue grill.

CORIANDER:

Aside from rusty mint, coriander must earn more complaints than any other herb in summer – because just when you need a good supply of it, it all runs to seed. One minute it’s lush and leafy; the next, it has bolted. Coriander is a shoulder season herb – it prefers the cooler days of spring and autumn to high summer. I always sow mine direct (along with annual large-leafed rocket) in a semi-shaded spot to slow its demise but still had no luck this season.

On the plus side, coriander seed – fresh or dried – packs the same pungent punch of flavour, so don’t pull it out if it does bolt. I let the seedheads dry on the plant until brown then cut the plants into a large plastic bag to take indoors. Then I put my hands into the bag and rub the seeds off. Tip into a colander to sift out the debris.

DWARF BEANS:

A no-show. This is the first time in all my years of growing vegetables that the usually reliable dwarf French bean ’Top Crop’ proved to be a complete flop crop.

CORN:

I sowed an entire packet of sweetcorn seed but only three plants managed to produce a cob. I can’t say definitively whether it was poor germination or birds scratching the seeds out as they sprouted, because a similar fate also befell my bed of barley. I’d hoped to hang bunches of barley in a suspended dried arrangement in our barn, but that idea will have to wait until next year. ✤