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| Digging the first crop of second early potatoes (Charlotte variety) . . . Next to them in the trug are some freshly-picked, tender rocket leaves. A salad beckons! |
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| The tomatoes still have some way to go . . . |
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| . . . but the runner beans will be ready in a week or two. The other vegetables in this raised bed are Brussels sprouts, rocket, parsnips and leeks. |
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| Though a garden's not just about vegetables. These calendulas are appreciating the recent sunshine . . . |
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| . . . as are these lilies . . . |
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| I always find water lilies magical and quite unreal, as if made out of wax . . . On the pond's surface and underneath the lily pads is a host of insect life. Also some tadpoles remain, refusing to change into frogs. They'll have to be quick or they'll get eaten like all the rest. I've only seen one froglet so far — smaller than my fingernail. |
9 comments:
Wow! Energy is Eternal Delight. I'm having a Blake moment. Thank you!
And I have a tiny frog story I tell James. We've been looking for him at our farm, but now I see he is with you!
On our way ...
Lovely Robert. Those Charlotte potatoes look so mouth-watering - my favourite variety.
'He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.'
That makes two of us, Am.
Quick before the heron gobbles it up, Ruth...
... and those potatoes, Pat, were... absolutely... delicious! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but nothing in heaven and earth can beat the taste of fruit and veg freshly picked from your own garden.
A lovely garden with impressive returns. Forgive my ignorance on this matter, but I must ask: Are your tomato vines planted directly into bags of gardening soil? The photo suggest they are. I've never seen this done, but it's an interesting idea.
These are grow bags, George — great for tomatoes (and other plants and vegetables). The tomato roots spread laterally in a specially prepared, nutrient-rich soil which comes in the bag. Saves on garden space and helps prevent pests and diseases. You make sure they're kept moist — but not too wet as there are no drainage holes underneath (as with a container) — and, in the case of tomatoes, you feed twice a week with a phosphorous and potassium-rich tomato food.
We don't have a proper greenhouse, so we have to grow tomatoes out of doors — therefore we will have to contain their upward growth to about 4 ft so that all the fruit below will ripen properly before the cold weather sets in.
Oh little tadpoles, please turn quickly into frogs before you get eaten!
This is the first year I have tried to grow tomatoes, in little mini 'greenhouses'. I'm a total novice, I have had to raise the greenhouse roofs twice already and decided that's enough otherwise there will be a gaping hole with wild winds blowing around their roots. But fear they might feel squashed. Yet better that perhaps than getting too cold? Sorry, this sounds like Gardeners Question Time!
Whoops, too late, Dritanje! Only joking — there are still quite a few wriggling around. They just never seem to develop. Perhaps they like infancy too much?
Re: tomatoes, I'm not that much of an expert myself, having grown them hardly ever. They do need warmth and moisture and feeding. Also — don't let them grow much above 4 ft or 4 trusses, as then you will get smaller tomatoes (all the energy going upwards into more leaves etc. rather than the fruit).
Talking of fruit, I'm not sure whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable!
Meant to sign the last remark off as Bill Sowerbutts or Bob Flowerdew, Dritanje...
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