Last of the Summer Veg

A bowl of late veg; the herb is African Blue Basil, delicious, long lasting and handsome

This has been the strangest year for vegetables in the garden. A cold spring, a cool summer, not enough sun and an absolute inundation of slugs has meant some crops giving up entirely and others appearing very late. 

The tomatoes and cucumbers have not managed too badly but my high hopes for the aubergines were dashed - until two weeks ago, when I'd practically given up and was preparing to chuck them - but they suddenly started to materialise on all three plants. I now have a welcome glut of small but perfect aubergines. I'm hoping that the warm days we've had so far this autumn will stretch out the season so I can benefit from their extended life. This lot only appeared two weeks ago and are already quite large.  

                             

The tomatoes are ripening satisfactorily, the little peppers are actually turning red and the  cucumbers produced several good sized examples before giving  up the ghost.  The garlic has done well - the heads are not enormous but very tasty and I've tied them up comme les French  growers who used to come over from Rostock and bike round the country selling their onion and garlic strings to householders. I've planted a variety called Solent Wight for two years now - it is a soft neck variety which I'm told keep longer than the hard neck kinds. Anyway I've always eaten them all before they rot.                                                  

And that's another thing -  the dull damp weather has produced  a wealth of  lush greenery to put on the compost heap this year. I didn't mow the grass all summer so there are plenty of grass cuttings. What with those, and the trimmings from the yew hedge and the cardboard delivery boxes and paper bags, I reckon I'll get about six  40k bags when it's all rotted down, which will be enough for mulching and planting through the year. (Not next year - the year after. You have to be patient as a gardener.)

Aubergine Fritters

These are delicious and easy to make with your own aubergines, whether they turned out large or small. If you have a glut of courgettes, you can do the same with them. 

Slice the aubergines into 1/4in thick pieces, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then with flour. You can fry them in deep fat or oil, but I prefer to brush them over with oil and cook them in a grooved grill pan or under a hot grill. They go well with most main dishes.