Toms Pumpkin

Tom was so excited when I asked him if he would like to grow something in the garden back in February. His immediate choice was a Pumpkin!
He showed a great interest in his seedling in the greenhouse during the early spring and here it is in the garden and it even has its first fruit on it.

Tidy up time

Today we needed to do a bit of general housekeeping on the veggie plot.
The onions needed tying back as they were flopping over and covering the lettuce. This was simple job of adding some small canes and string around the onion bed.

Chris had the more laborious task of trying to train the Black Forest Courgettes up the pea netting. We bought this variety because it was a trailing variety. Its unique climbing habit, is supposed to save space. Courgette Black Forest's climbing habit, needs supporting and tying. Stems can be trained and tied to a trellis, stout cane, or netting. However up until now we have neglected to allow it to train UP and let it spew out over everything else. We have now teased the main growing stem up and hope that it will now live up to its name.

June is Bursting out all over!

The garden in full edible glory!
View of my office and my bargain £5 basket.
View From My office...

Oh my goodness. How did I ever imagine that those tiny little seedlings would provide enough vegetables for us to actually make a meal from? I am so awe struck at how nature can provide such wonderful delights from a tiny little seed.
Now almost at the end of June, we have had 2 huge harvests of spinach which resulted in spinach and ricotta lasagne for 6 meals (and stored in the freezer for those nights when I am too lazy to cook from scratch!)

Peas, Mange Tout and Cougettes

We have had probably about 10 courgettes which have been delicious.
However, the pièce de résistance has to be the amazing mange tout and garden peas. For the last 3 weeks our crop has given us enough for 2 people twice a week as a side dish. I have found a great dish to make which is simply pasta, bacon, mange tout and Garden peas with a swirl of fresh cream and a liberal sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to top it off. Totally divine.





One problem we have encountered is a high level of black fly. The damn critters LOVE my growing runner bean plants and courgettes. After daily rubbing the pests off with my fingers or a soft clean paint brush, I finally had to resort to chemicals last week. I used an organic and vegetable friendly spray from Homebase but it doesn't seem to have done the trick yet. I need expert advice on controlling these pests urgently!
Leeks and Red Onions
Carrots
Parsnips with french beans behind
The first nobbly bud of a cucumber!

Beef Tomato
Sweet green pepper
The bumper crop of tomatoes
...and you can just about see the plant pots with a variety of chili plants at the end of the greenhouse.