Wednesday 26 June 2013

Dinner is within sight !

Oh my, look what I've been given - the first courgette of the season !  Isn't it a beauty .. one of my colleagues has a courgette plant in his greenhouse and had been away for a couple of days and somehow I've ended up as the lucky recipient .. it got lots of admiring attention in the office (note to self - give it a good scrub !!)

In comparison, here are mine ... I think another week and I'll be harvesting - yipppppppeeeeeee


Potatoes are flowering ... and this variety is, erm ... will get back to you on that !!

These are Vic's tomatoes

and these are mine  ... still at the flowering stage :/  The plants were planted at the same time, but Vic's greenhouse is warmer and larger than mine.  I suspect he is also better than me at feeding them !  I've clearly been very remiss at removing side shoots as some of them were almost sizeable plants.


In contrast here are my neighbours ... he actually ate his first two ripe plum tomatoes with his tea tonight !  **astonishing**  He bought young plants from the local nursery in February and kept them safe under a fleece tent in a heated greenhouse ... there was a period when they were quite spindly, but look at them now.  Am I envious ... nope ... not.one.jot.dot.com .... pffftttt



My neighbour is also growing melons - I think the variety is Gala.  He's got about 10 that have set so far ... he claims to have green fingers and in all honesty I can't really disagree !  Lets hope some of it rubs off on me


I ate my first strawberry earlier in the week !  Yummy.  I noticed tonight that quite a few of them have started to colour.  Interestingly the strawberries in the outside beds are also colouring up, so little difference between indoors / outdoors.

I think this is a Tayberry perhaps ?! Guess time will tell

The peonies are about to bloom ... one of my most favourite flowers.  I can't wait ... I might have to snip some for the house


Here are some of the globe artichokes ... tiny this season, but wait until 2015!!! they'll be pretty fine ... can't wait.  In the meantime it'll be supermarket artichokes this year for me & OH :( :(

The mange tout has just started to flower.  I've now completely given up on finding pea sticks and the plants are running rampant.  Plan b  ?? ... just let them get on with it LOL !

This is my neighbour's red currant bush - here is the first ripe currant :)









Here are some of the flowers around the plot ... enjoy






















Saturday 15 June 2013

Mid-way !

Oooo I think it is going to be a very very good year for fruit - look at the apples.  The branches are laden - hope they can support the weight later in the year.  I might have to talk to Vic about a cider press !




















I'm rather surprised that my climbing french beans haven't been nibbled at all ... yet.  They are under the brambly apple tree, so I have my fingers crossed that they can grow big enough before there is too much shade.























Vic has done a magnificent job with the butterfly proof cauliflower netting... so far no sign of caterpillars :)



















It is interesting how the different varieties of cauliflowers are growing at different rates - the green & purple ones are much bigger than the white ones.   I can't wait for the curds to start to develop to see how different they are.

















The autumn planted onions are starting to thicken - but they are still very small.  Hmmm mid-June, guess there is still time if we have some steady sunshine


















After killing 4 cucumbers, I didn't hold out much hope for the remaining two and other than plonking them into the soil, I've kept well away from them.  Imagine my delight today when I saw three baby cucumbers forming - hope I've not jinxed them




















The lettuce is looking good, but some of it has gone to seed already


















 salad
















carrots

















The coriander is growing well - I've got two varieties ... 'normal' and















 'lemon' coriander.






















The beans continue to flower


















but something is helping itself to the beans grrrr ... I think the culprit is probably a slug or snail. The plants look good, other than the beans being stripped :/





















I'm disappointed with the beetroots this year - we don't seem to have very many yet



















Look what OH has managed to grow - a ginormous mushroom!  We bought  a kit a while ago - but this is all that has appeared so far























The turks turbans have got tiny fruits forming - I think I might get a paint brush and help mother nature's germination just in case.  I've had very poor germination this year, I'm not sure why - I've not got any sweetcorn this year as 95, that's right 95 kernels didn't germinate.  I tried three different brands, sown at different times in different conditions - the sweetcorn was my biggest failure


















The first courgettes are appearing !  This is Goldena

















and this is greenbush.  The leaves and plants are still very small, but it looks as though the fruit will be plentiful
























More courgettes ... I've planted 11 plants - eeek !!!





















Here is the 2nd batch of peas - they look awesome.  So far the pigeons haven't found them - mainly due to them being under the magpie's nest perhaps ?  I've found some pea sticks, but the peas are growing so quickly I can barely see the twigs anymore ... might have to think of plan b soon
























The Borlottos are still very small, but at least they appear to be in one piece
















It is so lovely to see bees back - we've counted about 5 varieties so far























We have lots of strawberries appearing - I need to try and get some straw to keep the fruit off the soil - I hope that doesn't encourage slugs & snails - we have more than enough of them :/
























I think these are blackcurrants - I found them buried in the raspberries























The raspberries are forming




















We have lots of alpine strawberry plants - they are so pretty I've started to edge the beds in them ... pretty and productive




















They are dripping in fruit - another week and I think there will be an abundance of delicious fruits


















Here are Vic's gooseberries - bleeeuuuurrrrggghhhh






















think this is the Damson tree - it looks very plentiful compared to last year


















Here are the pears





















I think this is a special variety of bramble - it is very early flowering


















I think this is the plum truee




















Vic's grapes

















more apples























Vic's nectarines continue to look good






















Lavender
























I caught another naughty cat fishing in the pond today - this is cat no. 1.  He hasn't got any teeth, so hopefully the froggies & newts will be safe from him.