My ambition is to have a glut.
Maybe not quite the kind where you make a million jars of marrow jam and secretly leave tomatoes on your neighbours' doorsteps at midnight. Just a little glut would be fine. So far my vegetable gardening has tended to produce three tomatoes at a time, to be ceremonially and reverently consumed. Then you wait a week until the next three come along. That is pretty much an anti-glut, I would say.
So, this year. The Year of the Glut. Well, I have tried courgettes (zucchini) for the first time, which are notorious for being prolific. Four plants, looking pretty healthy so far.
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| Still in growbags. Maybe one year I will get a permanent garden. |
I wasn't even going to attempt tomatoes again, because last year I got 10 ripe ones and about 100 unripe ones, and I have
almost finished the green tomato chutney. But then the garden centre had some interesting varieties, including a yellow one, and Toby informed me that tomatoes were the only thing I was growing that he would eat, so... we'll see how they go.
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| Tomatoes with mint behind |
To be honest, I could probably count the mint and sage as gluttonous already, and I've been hacking down the coriander before it completely goes to seed. Herbs are always a good bet.
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| Tomatoes with sage, and that spindly thing is dill |
I'm also trying rocket (arugula); the first row came up really quickly, and I've just put in a second. The spring onions took longer to germinate, and I was about to decide they were all duds, when I spotted some tiny green specks, too small to even photograph.
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| Rocket sprouts |
And my three pots of strawberries are doing very well. If all these turn red like they're supposed to, we could be in for a good crop. Toby is keeping a close eye on them and letting me know when they have the tiniest hint of pink on.
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| Look at all those strawberries! |
And in the non-edible part of the garden: The lavender I planted last year had doubled in size when we returned from America, and is almost out in bloom. I just replanted the hanging basket, and we've got some nice colourful perennials to enjoy too. Just don't ask me about those giant weeds. I
will dig them up soon, honest.
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| Good thing lavender likes poor soil, right? |
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| I keep forgetting the name, but it's very pretty |
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| I think the clematis is meant to climb up the trellis really |
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