Asparagus

I wasn't planning to grow asparagus, as the family never seem that enthusiastic when I buy it. But when we went to the garden centre the other day, Amy persuaded me that I should get some as she loves it! Needless to say, the pot was purchased. Today I finally managed to find 5 minutes between the showers to get it in the ground. The pot label says it's a year old, so I might even get a few spears this year if I'm lucky...

Garden planner software

I've been playing with the 30 day free trial of Dobies (of Devon) garden planner software. I've not included the whole garden, and not used all the software's features, but I like it so far. I put in last year's plants and it warns me for this year's positions for healthy crop rotation which is handy. It can create a web page for mobile use which might be useful when I'm outside, although could result in a very muddy phone!

If you're interested, the webpage it generated is here.

Christmas Veggies

They may have been small (and not quite perfectly formed) but I managed to harvest a few fresh carrots and sprouts for our Christmas lunch! The carrots had been got by carrot fly larvae, but I managed to cut those bits out and once I'd added some shop bought veg we had a feast (although mine definitely tasted better than those I bought!) The aim for next year - keep some parsnips and potatoes as well...

Purple radishes

On a sunny day, way back in August, I pulled up these beauties. They didn't look much covered in mud, but just look how bright they were once I'd washed them off! The first few I harvested small, but realised that they are supposed to be this big, so left the rest to grow away and picked them when they started flowering.

They sat in the fridge for a while before I could decide what to do with them. Apparently it's a German tradition to eat this type thinly sliced and served with salt as an accompaniment to beer! As I mentioned before, the taste was more than a bit overpowering for our tastes, so I looked up some recipes for radish relish. In the end I combined a few to come up with my own, but these 2 were good sources:
www.radishgarden.com
www.food.com

What I ended up using using was:
1 1/2 lb Radish
1 1/2 large Onions
3 sticks Celery
3 tsp Salt
3/4 lb Sugar
1 1/2 tbsp Dill seed
1 1/2 tsp Celery seed
1 whole Chilli
1 1/2 tbsp Mustard seed
12 fl oz Vinegar

As yet I haven't tried the finished product, preferring to let it mature. It must be close now...

Long over-due update

It's been far too long since I last did a post, but I've got several lined up to get back up to date. The school holidays didn't leave me much time to get out into the garden, but luckily there wasn't a great deal to do. Then we went away for a couple of weeks and inevitably the weeds and pests made themselves at home. I'm finally feeling on top of things again, so will find some time to finish off the waiting posts.

Overall, I've not done too badly considering the terrible weather we've had this year, but have learnt a few lessons along the way - there are some things I will definitely try again, and others I won't!

Time for some more salad

Wow, what a change in the weather - sunny and mid 20s!! I cleared out the first sowing of salad leaves and rocket a couple of weeks ago (see here) which left some space for more. So this morning, I made the most of the sunshine and sowed a wide row of mixed leaves (not spicy this time - a more traditional mix of lettuces) and another of basil.

Having watched Gardener's World last Friday, I'm feeling quite smug about my carrots - Monty Don only managed to harvest 3 tiny ones, whereas I've already pulled a few and have got lots more nearly ready. We love carrots, so I've put in some more today (Autumn King). Rather than a narrow row, I've sown the carrots in a wide row (as Monty Don did!) to see if that works better. I also put in the last 7 red onions that were still in pots. They've gone in next to the carrots in the hope that the smell keeps the carrot fly away.

We found the purple radishes a bit too strong to eat raw, so I've sown some traditional pink ones today (French Breakfast). Let's hope they're more palatable!

Innocent seeds update

Back in the Spring, I collected quite a few seeds from Innocent Smoothies and duly planted them (see here and here) and watered them. Unfortunately hardly any of them germinated (1 single carrot, no tomatoes). I followed the instruction on the first few packets, but the basil packs split open when I removed them from the packaging. I planted  the seeds anyway and this is what they look like now (after I pinched out a few of the growing tips for pizzas!). The seeds came in thinnish cardboard, but my feeling is that it was too thick for the seedlings to break through. I think I'm going to leave them in pots now, as all my bedding plants and the pot of basil I planted out have all been either eaten by pests, or washed away!

Sunday 15th July

Well, today is St Swithun's Day, so according to the legend, whatever the weather does today will continue for the next 40. If that's the case, things are finally looking up - we've not had a drop of rain today (the first in far too long!). As a result, I managed to get out in the garden again. Our back garden is completely sodden and incredibly muddy - and that's just the lawn!

The tomatoes are growing nicely, although without a bit of sun they're not going to ripen very well.

I cleared the foliage from the Kestral potatoes in bed 6 today, and dug up most of the spuds. The foliage was beginning to go yellow and I was worried about blight setting in. I need to go through the bed a bit more thoroughly tomorrow in case I left any behind. I did find a couple of rotten ones today, along with alot of red ants - they were soon scurrying around to protect their eggs, and the sparrows had a feast! We had quite a few roasted for lunch (potatoes, not ants!) and the rest are in the salad drawer of the fridge for another day. I've never tried roasting new potatoes before, but I was following a recipe in "River Cottage Veg Everyday" - they were yummy, definitely one to do again.

I also harvested/thinned the spring onions today - we had this lot sliced on pizzas -another success!

Nice surprises

Yesterday I decided to clear out the salad leaves and rocket that had bolted. I had intended to collect the seeds, but realised that I still have thousands of seeds left from this year. The chances of me successfully harvesting the seeds and then storing them, let alone remembering to use them next year seemed pretty slim. So, onto the compost heap it all went!


In the process I accidentally pulled up a spring onion. It's much more bulbous than I was expecting, but tasted lovely.

And I also found some self-sown alpine strawberries in the border. The strawberries I planted are not faring very well in the rain, but these were little(!) beauties.

Courgette flowers

After my early disasters (see here and here) with courgettes, I finally have a healthy plant and some flowers! The only problem is that they all seem to be males, i.e., no fruit bud behind the flower. I've looked this up and apparently it is quite normal. Although it can be caused by stress (inconsistent water or not enough fertiliser) it is normal that the first flush of flowers are all male, to be followed by females later. I'll just have to be patient...

Harvesting (in the rain!)

After all the waiting, we're now getting quite regular veggies! Amy and I picked a couple of strawberries this week (although they got eaten before I thought about a photo!) - they were a bit soft with all the rain, but very tasty all the same.

We've had quite a few more potatoes (Kestral) - they look so colourful, but unfortunately they loose the purple when they're cooked.

Yesterday I picked the first of the peas, carrots and purple radishes (and some more spuds!).

The peas were a great success - will definitely grow some more of these.

One of the carrots had split open. I've looked into this a bit and it seems the most likely cause is too much water (especially after a drier spell). Hmmm, we have had exceptional rainfall recently so I'll blame that.

The radishes look great, but the flavour is a bit overpowering to say the least - I may have found the strongest variety! I'm now looking for recipes that use cooked radish - so far I'm thinking radish curry (Kerala style) or chutney...

Harvesting my first spuds!

I'm so excited - I dug up my 1st Kestral potatoes tonight! It was all the more exciting as you have no idea what's hiding below the surface until you start poking around. These were the first few I found, and this should be enough for 1 meal so I stopped there. I can't wait to taste them!

PS They tasted absolutely great! - served with a knob of butter and a sprinkling of freshly picked garlic chives.

Looking good

A little bit of sun yesterday and things are looking up.


The 1st potato flowers are opening, as are the lupins. 

A few strawberries are developing - I think they may need netting to prevent the birds/mice getting them.

The salad leaves I planted a couple of weeks ago are also growing well and it looks like I might get some flowers on the courgettes in the next few days.

The mange tout are looking good too - might have to pick some for tea tonight!

Summer?!

So this is summer eh? I took this photo during the deluge we had earlier in the week - the blue tray had been propped up under the table, but blew over and was almost filled within a couple of hours! I suppose we should look on the bright side - no watering, the water butt is full and all the veggies are growing.

26th May 2012

16th June 2012

Monday 4th June

Everything's growing so well at the moment! I've been able to pick plenty of spicy salad leaves and rocket, although both have bolted are now beginning to flower. As a result I've sown some more - I wasn't sure I'd bother with a second sowing, but they've been so good I want more! I've also planted some rainbow chard this week.

The sweetcorn's shot up this week with all the warm weather, and the beans I put in beside them have germinated - they are quickly catching up with the one's I planted earlier in the toilet roll tubes. It makes me wonder whether it was worth sowing them early - or is it more down to the sudden change in weather conditions?

The peas are flowering, and the first potatoes have just started showing flower buds. The tomatoes are also showing a few flowers. I planted out a few more red onions, beside Amy's purple and globe carrots to discourage the carrot fly. As for the courgettes? Only one of the earlier sowings have survived, but 2 more have germinated from those I sowed last week.


My mini greenhouse has been cleared out and I've taken out the 2nd shelf to make room for a big planter. I've put the more tender plants (aubergine, chillies and peppers) in here. As for where to keep the spare shelf? - propped up behind the planter to act as a support framework for the aubergines and peppers!