Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Summer garden snapshot.....


My favourite sunflowers before the cockies attack them....

Hello!
Just a little garden report for my records, I'm a bit late for the Garden Collective this month, but I am still going to do a garden post to keep up to date with how everything is growing this year.  I'm hoping to substantially increase the amount of home grown food we eat this year, I am really enthused about the food garden for 2014, lots of plans and motivation at the moment.


....... a bunch of carrots fresh from the ground, just about big enough to eat now......



....sweetcorn is powering on....


....zucchinis doing well in the evening light.....


....the tomato patch at the back with carrots, beans, zucs, pumpkins 
and melons in the beds in the front....


...this is how I am supporting my tomatoes, I have made a wire cylinder for each plant, so hopefully they will do well this year.....


.....pumpkins and melons starting to take off......


....Bush beans, Windsor Long Pods, really productive this year....


.....and climbing beans starting to set beans, these are Rattlesnake beans, green with purple flecks, very delicious!........I love how the sun shines through all the leaves, so green and lush...


....another tommy shot, I think there are about 12 different types of tomatoes in here, and 48 plants so I hope I will have plenty to preserve for winter.....


.......lush summer garden, this is what all the preparation is for!........


......some purple carrots from last year have gone to seed and produced these gorgeous flowers, such a lovely colour.....


.....potatoes growing ok, they need some extra mulching I think....


......and the later planting of Rattlesnake beans, starting to get nice and tall....


...so that is a little tour of the food garden at the moment, we are eating carrots, beans, zucchinis and various herbs from it right now, but there are quite a few things that we are waiting on that should be ready soonish, such as tomatoes, sweetcorn and potatoes.  I need to sow more salad greens and beetroot, the last sowing did not do well.

It is supposed to get hot here next week so we will see how things cope with the heat...


Do you grow food too?
What's growing in your neck of the woods now?

Talk soon xxxxxxxx

16 comments:

  1. Hello, I am new here and following along. Your veggies look wonderful, I wish that I could grow things like that! Looking foward to seeing more. Hope you enjoyed your carrots. xx

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    1. Hi Amy, thanks for stopping by and thanks for following along! I do love veggie gardening, it is so satisfying! And yes, the carrots were yum! :) J xx

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  2. Your garden is looking wonderful! We also grow our own food - nothing at the moment as it is the middle of winter here in England. I would love to know your secret with carrots! They are so straight! Mine came out all deformed and weird looking this last summer - please do share your secret :)

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    1. Thanks Shirley, this is the first year that carrots have worked for me, I usually find them tricky to grow. I think the key is to make sure the soil is nice and friable and not to feed them so they send down a straight root looking for nutrients. excess nitrogen causes them to fork and make odd shapes. I tried to grow them in a patch that had grown a fairly heavy feeder last time and they seem to be fairly straight and healthy. I have been watering them quite a bit as well. I hope that helps, happy gardening in summer! J xx

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  3. Such a nice post and pictures to see when I'm stuck in the horrid temps of the Polar Vortex covering the Midwest in the US!

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    1. Hope you are staying warm Kelly! I have seen pictures of the US on the news and I can't imagine how cold it is! J xx

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  4. Hello jules, I always love strolling around your garden and how wonderful to be gathering what you have sown. My garden is tiny and in the middle being renovated. It is so wet here in the UK at the moment (our river is flooded but not near my home thank goodness) When I finally get OH to finish the the new decking and fencing I will be able to think about plants. As the garden is so small I am thinking of having edible plants in baskets and in pots with maybe a raised bed or two by the shed. I once grew wild strawberries in a hanging basket which were very attractive at the flowering stage and when the tiny fruits were ripened by the sun they were so delicious. I am intrigued by your tomato cages - is this to keep something from eating your fruits?

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    1. Hi Linda, thanks for stopping by! The tomato cages are to keep the plants from sprawling all over the place, I'm hoping they will be healthier with more air flow around them and the branches won't snap under the weight of the tomatoes, also I have seen a rabbit in the garden recently so yes, I hope this stops him from eating the fruit! Hope you are safe and dry over in the UK, I've seen some pretty terrible weather over there at the moment . J xx

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  5. Wow your garden is amazing , great photos, everything is growing fantastic by the looks of things.

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  6. Wow what a fantastic vegetable garden.if I could get mine to look half this good I would be proud.My favorite crop in your garden would have to be the sweetcorn such an inpresive crop,and super tasty!

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    1. Hi jabbott, thanks, I'm hopeful of a great sweetcorn crop this year, fingers crossed they pollinate well and we get lots of fat cobs! :) J xx

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  7. Very fecund! Looks amazing.
    I always wondewhether you come across snakes basking in the middle of your vegetable patches?

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  8. Nothing much at the moment as its winter here, some kale and winter salads, your garden is looking great, I'm longing for spring! :) x

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  9. Jules what a fabulous post and such lovely photographs, it is cold and dark here so your images make me happy. Thank you.
    Lots of love
    Dorothy
    :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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