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.
The 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.
I have had my hands in soil ever since I could crawl. I remember well going out into the garden and watching my Father double digging the vegetable plot and being shown how to pick caterpillars off the brassicas. You could say he was an early organic gardener. There was something nice about sneaking round behind the outhouse and pulling rhubarb and dipping it in sugar, picking raspberries and stuffing handfuls into my mouth. It is these memories of taste and smell that never leave you and make you want to grow your own fresh fruit and vegetables.
It has been something of a treat then, to find myself working for Thompson and Morgan for the past 13 years and being able to help customers to solve their gardening problems