Too much of everything.

A stately swan on Lough Arrow.

At the moment it seems like we have just too much of everything in the garden, we can't keep up with the veg and we have promised ourselves that we will not freeze any veg this year, we have already broken this promise by freezing cauliflowers, but we will not put anymore in the freezer. We should have plenty of winter veg and veg is always best fresh. I just don't know what we will do with it all, maybe feed it to the pigs, all of our friends grow their own and we would not really have enough  to supply a veg shop, and given how much is thrown away by the shops I don't think that is a good idea.
Current glut is Mange tout peas,

The glut has started.

courgettes, broad beans, perpetual spinach and Swiss chard, soon it will be Runner beans, French beans and Sweet corn and cucumbers. It looks as though we will have a good crop of tomatoes, they are easy to deal with if there are too many by bottling or making tomato puree.
The strawberries have now just about finished but it might be possible to get a second flush in the autumn if I clean up the plants now and give them a liquid feed,

7 lb. of gooseberries.

we had a nice crop of Gooseberries, first time ever for us,

Nail clippers are great for topping and tailing.

and we are looking forward to the Redcurrants which will be made into redcurrant jelly.

Plenty of raspberries.

The raspberries are really giving us a good harvest, some we eat fresh and the rest get frozen to be enjoyed in the winter with homemade yoghurt. The rhubarb keeps coming, we have been picking it since the beginning of March.
The word Blackcurrant is now a dirty word as far as I'm concerned, so far I have toped and tailed forty five pounds of them with another fifteen pounds waiting to be done and still a few on the bushes. Jam has been made, many jars have been filled and processed, the rest have been bagged up and frozen. We are just hoping that we have enough room to store two pigs, who are fast coming up to their slaughter weight, and a dozen chickens. We certainly will not be picking any Blackberries this year, we don't need them and we have no space for them, I'm sure the wild birds will enjoy them.

Elder flower cordial, such a pretty colour, tastes great as well.

A couple of weeks ago we were given some red Elder flowers by a friend, this we made into elderflower cordial, it looks so lovely and is delicious.

Calendula and lavender flowers for  healing ointments.

I have also made some Calendula ointment, handy to have in the kitchen to treat burns or for any cuts.
As we have a helper with us at the moment we have taken him out a couple of times to see beautiful Co. Sligo,

                                     taking in our favourite Priory at Ballindoon on the shores of Lough Arrow

                                                              and a trip to the coast.

A builders armchair.

He seems to be enjoying himself and finds time to relax with Tommy the cat and Tess the golden Lab. 

Beautiful Co. Sligo.