Seed and plant list

After much deliberation I have come up with my order for what to grow next year, going back to old favourites like rocket and marigolds, trying new things like Turks Turban squash, and yes - tomatoes from seed (I fall for them every year, maybe this is the year it'll work out).

I tried to only order from one place but some varieties seemed a lot cheaper or more interesting "on the other side". So here it is, my list, including some flowers as well.

Thompson & Morgan

• Pantheon Bean (supposed to be really good on bad soil and in crappy weather)
  
• Mixed Patty Pan squash
  
• Turks Turban Squash (pretty if they work out)
  
• Patula Nana Single Legion of Honour marigolds (old variety, prolific)
  
• Purple Moldovan Wight Garlic (hardneck variety)
  
• Jack Flash Silene (not sure about it, may come off the list at the last minute)
  

Marshalls

• Crystal Lemon Cucumber (liked them when I grew them in Portland)
  
• Super Marmande Tomatoes (grew Marmande one year in London and they turned out well as I remember so super should be even better, right?)
  
• Chantenay Red Core 2 carrots (growing carrots on clay...hmmm)
  
• Oakleaf Oakley Rocket (can't grow enough of the stuff...)
  
• Rhubarb Duo Pack Stockbridge Arrow and Victoria (crumble! yay! eventually...)

I'll probably also grow the white beetroot again (still have some seeds left I think) but wasn't too impressed with the rest of the stuff. Order is going in soon as the garlic should be planted by the end of November.

Lost and found

The sky cleared and I took the opportunity to clean up the garden, in readiness for shutting it down for winter. I am still leaving the tomatoes out in the vain hope of some ripening before the first frost. The raspberries are nearly finished too and I need to read up on when I am supposed to cut the canes back. Gave up on the beans.

As I was clearing the patty pan away I found a few that are just ready for a stir-fry and a larger, weird-shaped, yellow thing. Also a stray cucumber and some very green tomatoes, which are now nestling next to a banana in the kitchen.


The thyme has gone a bit crazy. Since I loathe running out after dark and into spiderwebs just to get a sprig or two of herbs, I am going to try drying it. The oregano didn't grow as big but I think it got a bit smothered by the thyme.


With everything put onto the garden compost heap and the canes put away, it suddenly looks empty. Plenty of space now though to put my home-grown guinea pig compost down! Soon, planning for next year.

Full of beans

I have been wondering about the right time to harvest my beans. My usual first reference (Pears Encyclopedia of Gardening: Fruit and Vegetables, Roy Genders (ed.)) is not much help on this matter, only giving a reference to haricot beans: "These are grown chiefly for their beans, which should be dried, first by allowing the pods to hang until the weather loses its summer look [...]". This would have been mid-July then (mind you, this is also the book that attributes the decline of growing jerusalem artichokes to the shortage of kitchen staff willing to clean them). I decided to harvest some and see what they look like, the rest I will leave on to ripen a bit more. Also gathered more tomatoes and raspberries.



A slightly puzzling development on the patty pan front - some are looking like patty pans, some of them have the ridges of a patty pan but are more round and green like a zucchini. I think, since they are open-pollinated, I am getting a cross-breed.



Flowers in the garden are providing plenty of pleasure. The solanum 'Alba' is so pretty along the fence and in the back of the garden the cyclamen are popping through the woodruff. If the sun is out, it's a lovely time of year.

my spider sense

Life is hard this time of year for an arachnophobe like me...lots of webs built exactly where I want to wander and water. I am gingerly picking off the tomatoes, avoiding the giant spider that lurks there. A careful sideways approach to the waterhose reel because another spider has used it as an anchor for a thread. I am trying to ignore the one dangling over my head as I step out the kitchen door. I don't even think about dashing out to get some herbs after dark anymore, instead I plan a minor expedition involving a stick to knock down the webs and a torch. I guess they are very useful...but I just don't like 'em.


A few rays of sun are still about. Raspberries doing very well and I am even getting a little Serrano pepper. My bean experiment is nearing the end, there is a substantial amount of dark purple pods which, I hope, will contain black beans.

The Thompson and Morgan catalogue has arrived and I have leaved through it a bit. Disappointing selection of cucumbers but interesting beans. Need to sit down soon and make a list.

it's nearly autumn...

Time marches on but my camera doesn't (it keeps running out of batteries). So just imagine a picture of a bountiful harvest, including raspberries, patty pan squash, cucumber and a few tomatoes. In fact, probably your imagination is better than the picture would have been...

The bean pods are turning a deep purple and the beans inside them are now a near-black. Maybe I can recreate a vaguely authentic Mexican dish with them. I used some of the beetroot tops fresh and they tasted more like spinach, very delicious. Too much in one go, so I processed the rest by cutting them up and putting them in the freezer.

More patty pan to come (the other bush now finally has female flowers) and lots more tomatoes hanging on the bushes (I think most of them will ripen on the window sill in the end). Although the garden is still producing, there is the definite nip of autumn in the air. Hoping for a few more nice, sunny days.

finally...another harvest

Finally - some ripe tomatoes (plum, yellow and cherry) and some patty pan squash! I even found some more raspberries.


I pulled a few more white beetroot -- not sure how good they are going to be -- and a cucumber.

Not too thrilled with all of it and intend to make some changes next year:

• Grow fewer tomatoes, get them in earlier and in a sunnier spot.
• Patty pan is fine but grows too big and two out of the three I planted only produced male flowers. Maybe see if I can get a variety that is smaller.
• Dwarf zucchini - give up on them, grow proper ones.
• Don't grow white beetroot, grow leaf beet instead.
• The cucumbers have too many seeds and are too spiny for my liking. Look for a different kind.
• The beans are too stringy to eat as green beans. I'll harvest them later but I think I'll switch back to runner beans "Painted Lady".

tree clearing

First the horrific Leylandii to the right was cut down (yay!). Just now I got a letter through the door informing me that the back-to-back neighbours are going to remove the huge sycamore tree over the next few months (and they were kind enough to worry about my particular veggie plot). Hurrah!!! More light, more rain, more veggies. A bit of a shame about the tree but maybe they'll plant something lovely in its stead.