Garden Blogs

So I’ve finally harvested my crop of red onions, planted last November – it’s taken a while but they are worth the wait – sweet and strong, they smelled so much I’ve had to put them outside to dry (….in the rain…. not one of my best ideas but I think they’ll be fine). Of the 100 onion set bag I planted around 70 (got a bit carried away and there was nothing else going on the garden so why not, I thought) and have just harvested about 60 onions, 5.5kg worth ranging in size from reasonable down to pathetic (hardly bigger than the ones I planted). And where did the other 10 go? Oh well, I’m delighted with them and they’ll keep me going until the spring planted onion sets are ready in a couple of months. Tomatoes are ripening at a rate of a couple a day and I think in about three weeks time I’ll have a deluge of them. I’ve been lent a book of tomatoes recipes so hope to make something that I can put in jars or the freezer to use later in the year, provided I don’t just eat them all or give them away immediately that is. I’ve lost a few courgettes to rot during this rainy spell, so I’m hopeful for less extreme weather for the rest of the summer but I can see I’ll also have a lot of courgettes in about 3 weeks – ratatouille here we come…. Peas are being picked daily with the first mange-tout now ready, and I’ve finally identified spinach as the unknown plant in the middle bed which I’m delighted about – I was a bit random with recording what I’d planted where during May and didn’t think I had any. More potatoes have been dug up – these ones I think should be Yukon Gold, but look more like Ratte so I’ve probably mixed up the bags whilst shuffling them (highly likely) and must have a better marking system next year – not that I mind which potatoes I have when, it’s just a shame to dig them up early when a greater yield could be harvested a few weeks later (as I think could have in this case). I cheated a bit with pepper plants as mine were very slow germinating, and bought some small ones months ago – they are doing very well with good size peppers on, but the green peppers keep falling off before getting to the ripening stage. It might be the wet and I may have to put the greenhouse back up to regulate their water intake if so, but I’ll ask “head gardener” for her advice first. I’m hoping there will be some ready for my ratatouille so I can say it’s all from the garden (with the exception of the marmite, lee & perins and red wine that is – all essential ratatouille ingredients). I’m a bit concerned there is no sign of corn from my sweetcorn plants yet. They are a good size and look very healthy so I’ll try to be patient, it’s just frustrating when everything else is showing flowers & fruit. My newest experiment is fennel which I love – I started seeds in a tray and transplanted them but the packet advises sewing direct into the ground so they may not do as well as they should – they’re looking good though so I’ll wait and see what happens over the next few months and will know for next year. The pictures I’m taking all look the same, with just a bit more greenery or produce each time so sorry if they’re boring – next year I will find them (and this blog) a really useful benchmark for my crops as I’ll never remember all this, as much as I think I will at the time…