Return of Merlotti

It's the middle of half term, not much inspiration to get outside, what with the grey, overcast days, and my love of daytime tv! I did, however, manage to drag myself off the sofa, and the cat came with me to enjoy the digging and running across the newly planted beds. The old cabbage and broccoli bed is the second winter patch to be done, so first, I removed any cabbage leaves I could use for Spring Greens (even though it's not spring!) That reminds me, I left them in a trug in the greenhouse so will just go and collect them now while I remember...back in a mo...

Ok, job done. All in ready to go with the roast tonight. So, having dug it all over and added some compost, I planted up all the onions, about 49 of them, and two heads of garlic, kept from my own garlic last year. I've gone for an onions set: Troy. The garlic is Solent Wight and grew brilliantly last year. After planting, I've covered with fleece to keep them warm for the first few weeks, and will change the blanket into a tunnel as the shoots begin to form.

I've also sown some Winter Gem lettuce in the greenhouse. Now, call me stupid, but I thought that if I seeded them all at the same time, then I could grow them in sets, stage by stage. I have now realised its the sowing, rather than the planting out, that I needed to do in stages! Doh! Oh well, first set out under cloches as a catch crop between the broad beans, which are looking much healthier now they're in the ground.

The cat loves exploring the different patches, and whilst digging, I found a little hoard of squirrel nuts! I've left them out on the corner for him to find again. This bed is still a muddle as it has leeks planted in summer, that I've just begun to harvest, new broad beans and now Winter Gem.

I also finished off planting out the cabbages and you can really see the difference. Apart from the slugs enjoying their fill, I think they're going to do well and hope that this variety, Round head, do actually produce a head, rather than a few leaves and a bit of a point as last years' did.

Ready to Grow

Here are the first pictures of the new spring cabbages. I've cloched them to try to prevent the slugs and snails getting at them so early on, but will have to remove them soon as they won't fit inside!

I've also sown some winter gem lettuces. Now, it's a case of waiting a little longer so I can transfer them outside. I'm gong to grow them as a catch crop, between the rows of broad beans, so we'll see what happens.

These colourful seedlings are Rainbow Lights chard. Hopefully, not only will it provide colour and texture in the border next to the wall, but we'll also be able to use the smaller stalks as spring greens.

A New Start

Just a few pictures to show the winter/spring cabbages and broad beans that are starting off.

Getting ready!

Still Harvesting!

Just a quick photo gallery today so you can see what else is ready to go! the onions are still drying nicely in the greenhouse, but are on the small side. A shame really and I'm not sure why...I've gone for a different variety this year in the hopes they'll be bigger.

First we have husbands chillis, although we have since discovered the chillis he planted were the very mildest you could possibly choose! They're still very cookable though, and have found their way into several recipes recently.

As you can see, we've still got many tomatoes of all sizes and the raspberries have decided to give us a small second crop too. As for the corn...well, I think lack of water over the summer and a place that wasn't in direct sunlight may have contributed to their downfall. Oh well, we'll try again next year and hope that a different position will help.

Smoke from the Bonfire

Leaves on the trees are turning,
Yellow, brown and red,
Smoke from the bonfire burning,
Curling over head

Here comes Autumn,
Bringing the mist and rain,
Summer has gone for another year,
Autumn's here again.

I love Autumn; I think it may be my favourite season, but then I remember the long warm summer days, and think that might be; and I consider all the blossom and new shoots in Spring; and the snow days and being curled up snugly by the fire in Winter, and I really can't make up my mind.

One thing I am sure about though, is that the leeks are looking promising for a mid-Autumn harvest and the parsnips also look strong. The cabbage have given a few new leaves which I'll pop into stir-fried things, and I've got a few new round headed cabbages to put in this year instead of the pointy ones. Can't wait!

Celery, Sweetcorn, Leeks & Raspberries

My next harvest will hopefully be the leeks. They're looking strong and healthy and growing straight and true which is always good. I just hope they taste as nice!

Celery is a new one for me, and the plants are very leafy. I'm hoping the stalks will toughen up and broaden out a bit: am I meant to group them together and put them in tubes to help them do this?

Sweetcorn, again, is another new one, so I'm pleased to say the 10 stems all look to be doing well. 5 in one bed are doing much better than the ones in the other bed and I think the only difference they get is the amount of water, so I'm guessing that's the reason why.

And last but not least, there appear to still be a few raspberries hanging around. I picked as many as possible in the hopes of fooling the plants into making more fruit, but I think I only convinced one of the plants!

Harvest Time

Having got back from holidays a few days ago, the veg. patch is a sorry sight. So far I've managed to harvest the cabbages, but they were rather snail and caterpillar eaten, so most went on the compost heap; pull the garlic, all of which looks fab; pick the onions.

The courgettes are doing really well, a bit of water burn on the leaves as I've been lazy about the watering and put the sprinkler on, but other than that, they're dong really well. the flowers open every morning into full sun, the bees and insects pollinate them nicely and every few days, there's about 4 perfect little courgettes. In fact, they were so delicious, I made courgette fritters with them a few days ago. Have a look at direbonappetit in the next few days to see the recipe.

I've yet to weed all the beds; plant another row of carrots; check the beetroot and, somehow, ripen the tomatoes! They look great and very healthy, but they were late in and I'm worried they won't get enough sun to fully ripen. Oh well, it might be Delia's Green Tomato Chutney if they don't - check direbonappetit to see their fate!