The trouble with starting to harvest...

[Gryfon]

...is that I always seem to end up with one of everything

I have one courgette ready and one bean ready!

What's the best way to store both of them?

[mrskp]

First poster here ! but know exactly how you feel. What am I going to do with one courgette that is likely to go rotten any minute now as I've no male flowers !

Give it another week or so and we'll be wondering what to do with the glut, but for now it's a bit of a quandary !

[blossom]

mmm, I ate one mange tout not long ago. At least I won't get fat.

[Lilli M]

Both courgettes and beans can be blanched and frozen but if you've only got a small amount at the mo, I'd be tempted to stir fry them and have them for dinner.

[Shortie]

I keep losing my beans to waiting too long etc and they go stringy so this year I will be harvesting them as they are ready, be it 2 or 20, and then blanch and freeze them. When I have enough for a meal, out of the freezer they come. Maybe you could do that?

Courgette, I don't know how to store them as I've never grown them I'm afraid

[Alice]

Don't worry Gryfon, there will be plenty more along any minute. But if you feel you can't wait you can stir fry them in butter and put in the freezer to wait for companions. I wouldn't bother - I would just eat them. Enjoy.

[pickledtink]

As my small space means I usually only get one or two of anything at a time I mix them with other things. I'll put some frozen peas and shop bought carrots in the steamer and add my sliced home grown courgette or bean or whatever. Tossed ihn a little butter with some home grown fresh chopped herbs it's delicious and that little bit of earthy fresh flavour lifts the taste of the other veg.
Same with the mixed salad lettuce I grow or tomatoes. I'll make shop bought Cos the base then mix in the goodies.
My harvest basket is always something like 3 tomatoes, one courgette, 4 beans, 2 radishes and a handful of salad leaves.
On the day I cut one of the whole little Gem lettuce it's like the slaughter of the family fatted calf!

[Gryfon]

Thank you! Shall try all those suggestions

[Daddy Pig]

Little and often - veg medley

I thought I'd have the same problem - it's my first allotment season - but I've adopted a 'take what comes' approach. The other night we sat down to a dish of less-than-one-hour-old, lightly steamed, vegetables, consisting of mangetout, french beans, spinach, leaf beet, red chard - not a huge amount of any of them, but enough to make a delicious supper. We'd also had a few radishes as an appetiser.
I guess that where people didn't historically (or still don't - most of the world) have access to shops, still less supermarkets, you had to have this kind of gatherer mentality: if it is there, ripe and edible, then you need to eat it. A far cry from the supermarket notion of everything-all-the-time.
I dare say it will make for some slightly unusual meals as the summer wears on, but all fresh and organic, and free!

[smallblueplanet]

Nice Blog DP.

'Unusual' meals or new exciting combination of flavours!!

[WiZeR]

this morning for a hangover breakfast we had 1 courgette, 1 potato, 1 leek and 5 eggs to make a large 'cake' or bubble and squeek inspired dish. Lovely with baked beans. Good for what ails'yah!

[blackkitty]

I've posted a recipe in the season to taste section, perhaps others can add their ideas of what to do with the beginnings of the harvest.