Gluttony (hopefully)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good thing lavender likes poor soil, right?

I keep forgetting the name, but it's very pretty

I think the clematis is meant to climb up the trellis really

Comments

Limestone Way - the end! (for now...)

Bonsall is a pretty little village just up the road from Cromford. It was the centre point for my final Limestone Way walk. First I walked one way, back towards Ible, then I walked the other way to Matlock. I started at the fountain and climbed up to a tree in which a mistle thrush was singing loudly (helpfully identified by the Merlin app). A few fields took me across to the hamlet of Slaley. Then there was a pleasant walk through the woods, which dropped steeply to my left down to the Via Gellia. At Dunsley Springs the stream went right over the edge. I made my way down more gradually, and then was faced with the long climb up again to the point near Leys Farm where I was rejoining the Limestone Way. Tree down! Rejoining the Limestone Way Once I'd reached the top, it was a very pleasant walk across dry grassy fields. There were signs of old mining activity, which suddenly made the ground feel less solid under my feet - how many holes were hiding under the turf? Back at Bonsall, ...

Limestone Way: Grangemill and Ible

It was getting mistier and mistier. As I drove past Carsington Water, the world around grew dimmer, and when I parked near Brassington, the nearby trees were hazy shadows in the murk. I was glad I was wearing a red coat as I started off along Manystones Lane. At least I had some chance of being visible. Fortunately it was a short road section. I navigated my way across a series of small fields, from one dry stone wall to the next, and crossed the old railway line which is now the High Peak Trail. I could just imagine a steam train emerging out of the fog. The next fields were larger. It was as if the landscape was being sketched around me as I walked across it. A tree or an electricity pylon would appear as a few faint lines, increasing in detail when I got closer, and fading away behind. Up ahead, the land dropped into a huge hole - Longcliffe Quarries. I couldn't see much, but the noise from the machinery dominated the next section of the walk. I skirted the edge of the quarry a...

Baby Language

For some reason baby equipment is an area in which American English differs markedly from British English. As well as learning how to care for a baby, we had to learn a whole new vocabulary! Fortunately we are now fluently bilingual, and I have compiled a handy US-UK baby dictionary for you. Diaper n. Nappy Mom says if you can read this change my diaper. The first time you change one of these you will be all thumbs and stick the little adhesive tabs to yourself, the baby and probably the changing mat before you get them where they ought to go. A few years later you will be able to lasso a running toddler and change them before they even know what's happened (yes, I have seen it done). You will also get through more diapers than you ever thought possible, creating scary amounts of expense and waste. Hence we are now mostly using: Cloth diaper n. Reusable nappy Cool baby. No longer those terry squares, the main drawback is that there are now so many types it can be qu...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog