Harvest time in the garden!

At long last all the hours of weeding, digging ,sowing and watering are paying off.

The Broad beans Aquadulce Claudia sown in the autumn have produced a good crop all now safely in the freezer. We have only just finished last years. The space left by them will accommodate the French beans which I always leave sowing until later.

The first root of new potatoes Rocket was dug today, enough for two meals easily and cooked with  fresh mint, delicious.

Radish Bacchus harvestThe autumn planted garlic has been lifted and is now under the covered area drying and we will have plenty to keep us going until next spring.  This empty space will be ideal for another sowing of lettuce and spring onions.  We have been eating lots radish Bacchus, if you like your radish with a strong hot taste then this is the one for you and it grows very quickly.

In the greenhouse the tomato plants, cucumbers and peppers  are  all doing very well and I am now feeding once a week to increase the yield. I am still taking out the side shoots from the tomatoes. I accidentally knocked the growing tip off one of the plants so I am allowing the side shoot near the top to take over and it will continue to grow and produce flowers.

 

The fruit cage is bursting at the seams now all the currants, strawberries and summer raspberries are ripening and we have had the first pick to eat at breakfast.  Rhubarb crumble was on the menu the other evening and there is still plenty  more to come for a few weeks for us and for  the freezer.

I love this time when the fruits of your planning and labour come good and nothing can quite beat the taste or satisfaction of home grown produce.

I shall be away on holiday for a while leaving my husband in charge of the watering and harvest while I enjoy some Greek sunshine.

Finally, some rain!

Theresa vegetable garden after the rain

After several weeks without any significant rain last night we had 21mm enough to create puddles and fill all the water tanks.  The potatoes have visibly grown during the day and everything looks green and healthy.

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Tomatoes, potatoes and yoghurt pots

 

Theresa's vegetable garden

tomatoes in growing bag

The tomato plants in the conservatory have started to produce their first flowers so it is time to move them into their growing space.  I use re- useable Tomato growing bags and fill them with good quality compost mixed with some home grown compost, I like them because they give plenty of depth to plant deeply. This encourages the plants to put down extra roots which in turn makes for a stronger more productive plant. I also use collars around each plant this acts as a reservoir when you water and allows the water to seep into the bag slowly. I can fit 12 plants in the greenhouse and then have pots outside with about five more plants including my favourite bush tomato Red Alert.

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Potatoes, Full Fruit Cages and Chickens!

planted potatoes

I have taken advantage of the long weekend to get more of my potatoes in the ground. One of my favourites is Mayan Gold, lovely knobbly potatoes with yellow flesh and ideal hot or cold. My insurance is two rows of Sarpo Mira as they are blight resistant and can stay in the ground until September. I like to grow lots of potatoes as everyone likes them and they store well all through the winter.

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Compost, Slow-worms and Beans

Taking advantage of the dry weather this week to empty and turn my compost heaps.  Always a satisfying job.

One now vacant for this year, one cooking and one cooked ready for the autumn.

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