'What Katy Did' And Other Stories

The first autumn storm of the year was responsible for a disturbing nightmare, in which the allotment apple trees were stripped bare of their fruit, providing a veritable feast for the occupants of the wasp nest lurking nearby. Yes I was away from home so was greatly concerned about their welfare. The crop on our three year old trees had been looking promising so it was with some trepidation that I ventured to my plot on Monday afternoon. Here much to my relief there was the sum total of one apple on the ground. Cupping and gentle tugging of those fruits still on the trees did not produce much, as the majority of the fruit was still clinging to the branches, so a decision was made to leave them be although more unpleasant weather was forecast. I returned to the allotment on Friday when in the space of just a few days apples were coming away easily. Rosy red 'Katy' is still wearing a few fruits but the 'James Grieve' crop has now all been removed.

'Katy' or 'Katya' as she is originally called coming from Sweden should have been ready to pick in late August but was late. Of the three apples varieties we planted she is my least favourite taste wise and does not have a long keeping period. Although she looks great and has had a few compliments on her appearance I now wish that I had chosen another variety.

'James Grieve' is a much older variety (1893) originating from Scotland. The fruits are quite large and will keep for a couple of months. This is a dual purpose apple but I think that this year's crop will form the basis of apple crumbles. This has produced the smallest yield of the three trees but the fruits are much bigger so I suppose it's a case of less is more.

Finally still to yield its fruit is my favourite 'Sunset', which was introduced in 1918. If you enjoy the taste of 'Cox's Orange Pippins' this should appeal to you. It is thought that 'Sunset' may be a seedling of 'Cox's Orange Pippin'. This year it is bearing a lot of fruit although the apples are on the small side. I should have been more ruthless with the thinning out in June instead of being so greedy. I'm hoping that these will soon be ready to pick. I must try to remember to do a head count this year.

There are plans to try and fit in a couple more fruit trees on the plot. No definite conclusions yet but here might be at least one other apple variety in the mix. It will have to be dwarf rootstock as large trees are not allowed. I would like to grow a local variety and will be consulting 'The Apple Source Book' for ideas. Whether I can get a local variety in a dwarf rootstock remains to be seen. Although our three little trees will certainly never provide us with all the apples we use, they provide us with much enjoyment and are most rewarding to grow. If you are thinking of adding any apples trees to your plot of earth this autumn, the Orange Pippin site is a most informative resource with detailed descriptions of some six hundred varieties. Not sure which variety to go for no problem as the site allows you to short list varieties, then see an on screen comparison. Do you grow apples and if so what variety or varieties tickle your tastebuds?

Conundrum

The old grey matter has been struggling this week trying to solve a mystery. I'm now well into French bean harvesting and consumption. What I am unable to fathom is the different growing patterns of the beans. I planted a trio of climbing beans at the allotment this year. The 'Borlotti' turned out to be a non climber so I will leave them out of the equation. The others are old favourites, the green 'Cobra' and 'Blauhilde' which has purple pods which turn slowly green as the water in the pan comes to boiling point. Great fun to watch.

The beans were both sown on the same day. 'Cobra' was the first to produce beans where they appeared from the bottom of the plants upwards, whilst 'Blauhilde' was about ten days behind and has been cropping from the top of the plants downwards. Now I wonder why that should be and whether it is a regular happening or just a one off. I will have to wait a whole year before I can put this to the test but perhaps somebody out there might have a scientific explanation as to this particular phenomenon. 

Meanwhile if you are wondering why there is a photograph of some sweet peas accompanying this post it's because I do not have any to illustrate my point :)  However my sweet peas are giving me great pleasure this year. The above bunch was picked earlier this week after cutting some for my allotment plot neighbour. They were the biggest bunch I have possibly ever picked on a single day so I thought that they deserved a special mention. Another option would be to post without a photo but more on this subject later this week. 

Current News

Taking a break from what looks like a long job. I'm in the midst of removing the stalks from a ginormous mound of white currants. My favourite the red currants are done and dusted, the black currants are still not quite there but the white currants are dripping thick and fast. I have filled a large box this afternoon with probably about one third of the harvest. Last night's search amongst allotment and recipe books did not produce much in the way of inspiration. There were suggestions to combine them with other fruits to make jam as they are high in pectin. However I do not have a surplus of other fruit at the moment to do that. Nigel Slater has hopefully come to the rescue with a recipe for a white currant compote, which he describes as delicious both hot and cold. There are only three ingredients - white currants, water and caster sugar so there should be little room for error. I must admit that I like simple recipes. Are there any other white currant growers out there? If so please tell me what you do with your harvest. Oh well coffee break almost over and time to get back to the job in hand. Something tells me that this is not going to be the most exciting Saturday night.
PS Slight blip - Nigel recommends having a biscuit or two at hand to enhance consumption of compote. We do not have a single one in the house so will have to remedy that sad situation in the morning. I'm thinking ginger snap. Any suggestions?

Wordless Wednesday ~ 21st November 2012

As displayed by The National Vegetable Society at the Southport Flower Show, August 2012.

Salad Days ~ Totally Tomatoes

Back in the heady days of early May, when misplaced optimism about the coming summer still prevailed, I posted about my hopes to be munching on a veritable rainbow of tomatoes this year. I was inspired by the '52 Week Salad Challenge', laid down by Veg Plotting. The seeds germinated profusely forming fine sturdy specimens though I say so myself. After the initial positive start my tomato growing year went downhill. Things went haywire - cold spring nights saw me lugging crates of plants in at night and back out in the morning, labels went missing, plants were given away or sold at the garden club plant sale without me checking what I was left with etc., etc.........

The final straw was a nesting blackbird in the lean- to greenhouse at the allotment where my plants were headed for. I hung on and hung on but there was no sign of the last fledgling leaving home and I was about to go on holiday. A last minute rush to plant the majority of them in the community greenhouse ensued. So all in all a challenging start but matters improved when I eventually started munching. I have just stripped the vines down except for a few fruits, which were too high up for me to reach. So sadly not as accurate or as scientific as I would have liked is my verdict on the 2012 rainbow crop :

Tried and Tested (grown before)
'Sungold' - sown on 24/02/12, first picked on 21/07/12. Grown on in greenhouse.

'Gardener's Delight' -  sown on 17/03/12. Grown on in greenhouse. First harvest date not recorded but is was sometime in August.
Both these varieties fared well and produced lots of tasty fruits. A definite case of 'small is beautiful'.
'Losetto' - a low growing bush type tomato. This did really well gown in containers outdoors at the allotment last year. The plants were grown outdoors again and despite the odds being against them they set a plentiful supply of fruit. This is an expensive tomato to grow from seed but on balance worth the extra pennies if you are keen to grow a basket type trailing tomato.

On balance I have decided that taste wise I prefer 'Gardener's Delight and 'Sungold'. Also 'Losetto' has a thicker skin.

Beefsteak - 
'Super Marmande' - if somebody could enlighten me as to the difference between this and 'Marmande' (which I have grown before) I would appreciate it.

I am not sure what happened to these. I did not end up with any mature plants!

Uncharted Waters - (not grown previously)

Here there was the most disappointment as both plants and labels walked. Of the dark purple/black varieties listed below, I ended up with one variety which I grew indoors. My suspicion is that it 'Black Sea Man' but I would not testify to this in a court of law.

'Prudens Purple' - a potato leaf variety producing pinky- purple beefsteak fruits. 

'Black Sea Man' - a potato leaf variety which hails from Russia. The fruits are described as mahogany to brown in colour with green to olive shoulders.

'Noire de Crimée' - another Russian tomato with reddish brown fruits.

'Matt's Wild Cherry' - hailing from Mexico this apparently bears a multitude of very sweet small red tomatoes. I planted my plants outside on a tripod of canes. The plants did not thrive at all. I picked but a handful of tomatoes and was not that impressed but then it could be that there was never enough sunshine to give them much taste.

Again with the varieties below it is case of either or but I think it was the Polish variety that came through. Both these were grown under cover.

'Zloty Ozarowski' - a golden orange tomato from Poland.

'Jaune Flammé' - originating from France, this is an early ripening apricot coloured tomato.

Both the above were grown under cover.

Taste wise none of the larger tomatoes have been that impressive - himself replied with the word 'musty' when I asked for a verdict on the one I have down for 'Black Sea Man'. Not exactly the response I hoped for.

In conclusion I have decided that :

• I will try again next year to grow some varieties that I have not grown before.
• I will not sow so early.
• I will sow fewer seeds.
• I must be more disciplined when it comes to labels.
• I must not give away/sell plants before checking whether I've set at least one of each variety aside for myself.

How's your tomato growing gone this year and what has been your favourite variety? 

Do visit Veg Plotting today for more September salad pickings.

Introducing 'Socrates'

Not the philosopher but the cucumber. I have never had much joy when it comes to growing cucumbers, usually managing a paltry few cues each year late on in the season. This year though looks as if it going to be different.

I sowed three varieties in  April - 'Crystal Apple', the usual 'Burpless Green' and the new to me 'Socrates'. I have ended up with one plant of each. 'Crystal Apple' is growing outdoors - somewhere along the way its label got lost. Initially there was an id problem - I thought it was some sort of squash but it has turned out to be a cucumber. Planted out in June it has not really flourished but finally there is a small lemon golf ball sized cucumber forming.

The other two plants have been planted into containers, which are living in the community greenhouse at the allotment. Normally I grow my tomatoes and cucumbers in lean to at the allotment, which is accessed via the shed. However a blackbird took up residence in the spring and decided that she liked the feel of the place enough to nest there. I did not have the heart to disturb her and her young, so ended up taking my plants into the community greenhouse, where they seem to have flourished so far, especially 'Socrates', which you can see in the above photo.

I was tempted to try this variety after reading this post in Graham Rice's excellent 'Transatlantic Gardener' blog. Not only is it high yielding but it produces mini cues, which as this household's only cucumber fan is the ideal scenario. I picked the first one at the end of June but then quite a gap until the last few days. They must have responded to the increased temperatures and have swollen overnight. I picked one at the weekend and another one came home with me yesterday.There are at least half a dozen waiting in the wings which will need picking in the next few days. I detect a surplus coming on and am off to investigate recipes other than chilled cucumber soup and cucumber raita. Do please share if you know of any.

Update - 26/07/11 - another two picked yesterday. Meanwhile one of my allotment neighbours has told me that pickled cucumbers are delicious in the middle of winter.

"Red And Yellow And Pink And Green "

"Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too."


~ well that's the plan. Inspired by Veg Plotting's 52 Week Salad Challenge, I'm hoping to be eating a myriad of rainbow coloured tomatoes later this year. Tomatoes are an essential and favourite salad ingredient for me. A salad would not be complete without at least a slice or two, preferably homegrown and eaten when still warm from the sun. A few years ago on holiday we came across a small market stall in Brittany, where a young man was selling tomatoes of all sizes and hues as well as variety of squashes. Just the mere act of looking made my heart sing. I had seen such tomatoes on catalogue pages but this was the first encounter in the flesh as it were. We bought a bag of mixed tomatoes and had a short conversation with the vendor about the source of his tomatoes. He bought out a well thumbed book from behind the stall and I spent ten minutes or so leafing through the manual of the Association Kokopelli. This non profit - making organisation was formed in 1998 and seeks to protect food biodiversity. Membership offers access to a range of organic heirloom vegetable seeds. I am not a member but am tempted.


Now I know from bitter experience that north west England can't compete with Brittany when it comes to sun, warmth and quality of light but this year I decided I would have a go at producing a riot of colour as well as taste. So here is the roll call :


Tried and Tested 
'Gardeners Delight' and 'Sungold' - both produce small sweet bite sized fruits.
'Losetto' - a low growing bush type tomato. This did really well gown in containers outdoors at the allotment last year.
Beefsteak 
'Super Marmande' - if somebody could enlighten me as to the difference between this and 'Marmande' (which I have grown before) I would appreciate it.
Unchartered Waters ~ 
'Prudens Purple' - a potato leaf variety producing pinky- purple beefsteak fruits. 
'Black Sea Man' - a potato leaf variety which hails from Russia. The fruits are described as mahogany to brown in colour with green to olive shoulders.
'Noire de Crimée' - another Russian tomato with reddish brown fruits.
'Matt's Wild Cherry' - hailing from Mexico this apparently bears a multitude of very sweet small red tomatoes. 
'Zloty Ozarowski' - a golden orange tomato from Poland.
'Jaune Flammé' - originating from France, this is an early ripening apricot coloured tomato.


Harvesting tomatoes seem a long way off at the moment. I am regretting the fact that with one or two exceptions I sowed most of them at the back end of February. I am now lugging trays back and forth in come evening and morning as it has been too cold to leave them in an unheated greenhouse overnight. If the plants had been smaller I could have fleeced them effectively but most of them are too big to be wrapped up, without the risk of damaging the foliage. Then of course as usual there are more plants than needed. I will be sowing later next year and also maybe looking at buying in from other sources, which might take care of the some of the hard graft. Age must be catching up with me!


Hopefully if it ever gets warmer I will be back later in the year with photos of my tomato fest, growth and taste verdicts. I have an inkling that the Polish and Russian varieties may fare better than the French and Mexican but who knows ~ maybe a glorious summer is on the cards. How is everybody else getting on with growing tomatoes in this challenging spring?

"I Don't Believe It!"

Just as my first crop of 2012 salad leaves have reached optimum munching stage, the unnaturally warm March spell we have been blessed with, has given way to soup and stew weather. This seems to be the outlook for some time to come. Inspired by Veg Plotting's 52 Week Salad Challenge these are my earliest crop of salad leaves ever! They were sown in January under cover and have lived under cover so no slug or snail nibbled edges in sight. Overall challenge wise I'm falling slightly at the wayside, hence my absence from last week's monthly round up but hope to be munching more of my own salad ingredients very soon. The pea shoots are not far behind and lots of other salady germinations have occurred in the greenhouse. Meanwhile whether himself likes it or not, it's a case of lettuce eat lettuce this weekend although I predict a verbal rant worthy of one Mr Victor Meldrew. Cover your ears readers!

The 52 Week Salad Challenge ~ January 2012

I could not resist when Veg Plotting laid down the gauntlet of growing and or/foraging "some salad leaves to to eat every week this year". Yet although it's still only January I can already hear that school report phrase "Could do better" ringing in my ears! I am somewhat slow at rising to the challenge. I think that some of this is down to the general January lethargy that strikes me most years so I can only presume that as the year wakes up so will I.

I'm rather conservative in some ways when it comes to food. I don't do hot and spicy or bitter. I also have an innate suspicion of anything with serrated leaves or sharp stalks. For some reason such greenery often gets stuck in my craw as I eat so violent coughing and sometimes choking ensues. I have nightmares of being carted off to hospital in need of surgery a la Queen Mother after her encounters with fishbones. I don't know if this peculiarity is just a family trait as my mother also suffers from it or whether other people have a similar affliction. So alas delights such as dandelions and hairy bittercress are strictly off the menu for me.

So what have I been up to? In the greenhouse my main activity some winter salad leaves have been sown. The greenhouse is unheated. The leaves shown were sown in a small unheated propagator on the 8th January. The lid has remained on throughout so far but I shake off any surplus moisture and open the ventilation shaft (not sure if this is the correct phrase) each day. I have not watered the compost but spray it with my trusty water mister when I think necessary. I do this regularly with small seedlings as I they are delicate and do not appreciate a deluge from a watering can. There is also more risk of things getting too wet at this time of year and using a mister makes it so much easier to control the volume of water seedlings get. I hope to be munching from this sowing in February and will be sowing again this weekend.

My brief flirtation with sprouting seeds back in the 1970s is about to be re-ignited. Buying the equipment locally was a challenge in itself but I now have a sprouting germinator jar and a small selection of sprouting seeds so am set to go. I will hopefully report on some harvestings next month.

What I have been enjoying this month is some finely chopped snippets of Babington's Leek (allium ampeloprasum var babingtonii) on salads and also as a chive substitute with scrambled eggs. You can see a photo above of some plants waiting for me to transport them to the allotment to join those already in residence. I took the photo in the greenhouse for convenience - the plants though have been outside all winter. This plant is native to Britain and can be found growing mainly near the coast. The leaves have a garlicy taste and although all parts can be eaten I have only munched young leaves up to now. The foliage disappears over the summer months. I grew my plants from seed obtained from Chiltern Seeds. I have a few spare seeds or to be more accurate bulbils to spare if anybody is interested.

My other activity has been the oh so most important and pleasurable business of perusing the seed catalogues for various salad ingredients. Some sowing is on the schedule this weekend Finally last night I came home from my local garden club meeting clutching two bags of seed potatoes - Belle de Fontenay and Ratte, both of which are delicious salad potatoes. I realise that the challenge is about mainly about leaves but you do need something to bulk them up. Mmmmmmmmm - my mouth is already watering at the thought.

Do visit the monthly round up of The 52 Week Salad Challenge over at Veg Plotting if you have not already signed up consider joining in the fun!

Just Snacking

One of the greatest pleasures of growing fruit and vegetables are the little nibbles that you sample before any of your produce even reaches the plate. Be it a strawberry, pea, raspberry or tomato or herby bite there always seems to be something slightly illicit about such munchings but the taste is oh so sublime. I also tell myself that it is of course all in the name of quality control. This year's new discovery and a ready made allotment lunch, if I have remembered to take some bread and butter, has been the delicious 'Crystal Lemon' cucumber. Himself is not partial to cucumber so I decided this year to forsake my usual 'Burpless' for smaller outdoor grown cucumbers, namely the slightly exotic looking 'Crystal Lemon' and 'Iznik'. The jury is still out on the latter ~ it is described as producing cocktail sized cues but they are still too small to sample. The former though is definitely a hit and is already on next year's seed list.

" Small Is Beautiful"

W IS FOR?

WHAT A WHOPPER!

When it comes to the world of fruit and vegetable growing I find that there are constant sources of wonder. The above strawberry to which himself's finger points was certainly a winner as far as size goes. I was almost lots for words when I saw it. I picked these at the weekend with a few raspberries and they were a most welcome addition to our tea. Not surprisingly though its wee companions were much more tasty.

Why not wither over to ABC Wednesday for more on the letter W?

'"What's In A Name?"

V IS FOR?

VRAIMENT! ~ the potatoes that I picked at the allotment this afternoon were veritably delicious when cooked and  served with a frittata and green beans. They were the very first pickings of the season and I had to have a good furtle underground to find enough to dine on. These spuds go by the most dull name that any potato could have the misfortune to bear ~ 'BF15' which makes me think of laboratory experiments. The variety was bred in Brittany, France being the offspring of 'Belle de Fonteney and Flava.' The valiant Monty Don describes 'BF15' as the best boiled potato he has ever eaten. I'm not sure about whether I would say that but there were decidedly good.

You will find more on the victorious letter V over at ABC Wednesday.

''One Potato, Two Potato''

New potatoes ~ what utter deliciousness but at one point I thought that I might be counting my 2010 harvest on one hand. I thought that the potatoes were going to be the equivalent of last year's tomato failure. I have not grown potatoes in the ground before but this year having extra growing space at the allotment, I made the decision to plant two raised beds up with potatoes. My earlies are the tasty 'Lady Crystl' which I was introduced to last year by my lottie neighbours. The first disaster that befell them was when they were caught by the late frost we had in May. Oh how sad they looked having previously looked most healthy and vigorous. More experienced lottie neighbours advised that they would perk up and catch up but they have not flourished since. They limped along, did not gain much height and never flowered. Some of this may well be down to the drought we experienced in June and my haphazard watering regime. 


All the tomes I read advised that you can start harvesting once the flowers are done and dusted. What if you never get flowers? There is no advice for those for those of whose who are in this predicament. Still I had a rummage or two and to my surprise have unearthed quite a few tubers which have proved more than edible. The good news is that there are still more to come and although there are certainly not enough to see us through the winter or to fill the hessian sack I bought in anticipation, there are more than I thought there would be. In the meantime I am pleased to say that the other bed, planted with the maincrop' 'Pink Fir Apple', is faring much better and I am looking forward to the tasting thereof. 


The post title is a reference to a chidhood counting rhyme which some of you may be familiar with. I wonder it is known outside the U.K.


"One potato, two potato, three potato, four 
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more"

A Tale of Woe

No I have not fast - forwarded to October. This little cameo of the contents of one of my kitchen draws is very much in the here and now. They are the only pickings from two tomato plants. Earlier in the year I sowed three varieties of tomato, all at the same time. Alas 'Czech's Excellent Yellow' keeled over as seedlings - probably the consequence of too many seedlings in the greenhouse at the time. I was looking foward to trying this variety as I had not grown it before. However 'Marmande' and 'Ildi' flourished. I duly planted six of the former and one of the latter (the rest went to friends) in the lean to at the allotment. This ramshackle construction is an extension of the shed and has three glass sides.

Initially all went well until probably June, when I thought to myself that my tomatoes were not really flourishing as well as they should do. I could not pin it down to anything specific. Time went on, the state of affairs did not improve and of we went on holiday. On our return despite excellent care from my allotment neighbours, two of the 'Marmande' plants were decidedly floppy. The foliage was limp and yellowing. I gave the plants another couple of weeks but they did not perk up at all. They were looking so poorly that I decided needs must and pulled them out. Their fruits have been ripening in the kitchen draw and the time is ripe for tasting this weekend. The four remaining 'Marmande' plants are unhappy. Three have droopy and curled up leaves and I think that the same fate awaits them. The other seems to have gone into a state of suspended animation. It is about eighteen inches tall and has one truss only. Meanwhile the only healthy and vigorous plant is the 'Ildi', which has lush foliage but we are still at the flower stage. No baby toms yet and we are almost at the end of August.

Where did I go wrong ? I do not think it is blight with the 'Marmande' but must consult my vegetable tomes. I am wondering whether the border in the lean to might be the problem although I freshened up the compost before planting. I might grow my tomatoes in pots next year or possibly in the other greenhouse which is out in the open. This has a grapevine planted in it so I will need to think carefully about where to site the tomatoes. One to contemplate when the nights are long !

A Happy Carrot Moment!

Yesterday saw one of those magical "Eureka!" moments at the allotment, when I unearthed the first of the 'Yellowstone' carrots. I have been picking some little round 'Parmex' carrots for a while. These were sown into cells in the greenhouse and then transplanted. I sowed 'Yellowstone' though directly into the ground at the allotment. I grew them at the recommendation of The Pigtailed One, aka Bob Flowerdew during a talk we attended back in March. I sowed them sometime in May - as usual I wish I had kept accurate records. Apart from thinning out and the occasional watering I have left them to their own devices. Yesterday I had a delve around in the soul and tried to gently tug one out. Nothing happened - it was anchored firmly, so out came my trowel. The moment of truth - out from the soil emerged a veritable monster of a carrot, unblemished by the dreaded carrot fly. I have lived in trepidation of encountering this invisible creature, especially as I did not protect my carrots with fleece. I have had great fun imagining what a carrot fly looks like in my more idle moments at the lottie. However all was well and although I know that big is not always beautiful, especially when it comes to taste, I was so excited by my harvest.

Sadly there was nobody else around at the lottie for me to show them to at the time, so I just had to jump up and down with a smug look on my face - a sublime happy carrot moment. They were much admired though later in the morning by my plot neighbours - of course by then I had dug another one up. I have not grown carrots before so this could well be beginner's luck but oh respect Pigtailed One ! I only wish that my tomatoes were just as happy but there's a story for another day.

Lettuce Eat Let Us !

“Never pride yourself on knowledge. Remember; even a head of iceberg lettuce knows more than you do. It knows whether or not that light really does go out when the refrigerator door shuts.” ~ Anonymous.


No prizes for guessing what is on the menu this weekend - yes it's LETTUCE ! Lettuces 'Yugoslavian Red','Lobjoit's Green Cos' and 'Delicato' all photographed at the allotment this week.

"Who Knows Where The Time Goes?"

"In summer, the song sings itself." ~ William Carlos Williams

So here we are almost at Midsummer's Day ! In the words of the Fairport Covention song oh so beautifully sung by Sandy Denny, "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?". It has been a showery summer solstice here but the forecast is promising a dry and warm week.

As the year goes on I am failing somewhat with my intention to maintain some sort of gardening diary both on this blog and elsewhere. I especially wanted to try to keep more accurate records of what I have done at the allotment. So once again I am unsure of when I planted my garlic, onions and carrots etc. and exactly when they should be ready to crop. I think that for another year that it will be a glorious guessing game. The 'Feltham First' peas are coming on but in trying to establish whether the peas are ready I am eating a fair few podsworth. However they are deliciously sweet and going down well. I wish all crops were like strawberries as it is so obvious when they are ready for eating. They are ripening thick and fast at the moment so each trip to the allotment usually sees me coming home with enough to feed the two of us. I have also been invited to top up with next doors as well, as they are on holiday so there is certainly no shortage of strawberries. I had a good session at the lottie yesterday where I weeded for England. I am trying to make sure that the plot is tidy as possible well in time for the July inspection. It was last July when I got the dreaded letter. I am trying to gets things as tidy as possible before then and also before holidays call.

I am also regularly picking bunches of sweet pea 'Matucana' from the plot which scent the hall. The flower bed there is filling out nicely now. The top photo shows penstemon 'Evelyn' and cerinthe major. In the same bed are cosmos 'Purity',nasturtiums, asters, teasels, a Japanese anenome and a stipa gigantea still very much in its infancy.

On the subject of tempus fugit, I have been very remiss in not thanking the lovely Joanne of Joanne's Cottage Garden for the 'Renee Award' which she kindly bestowed upon me - my very first blogging award! :



This award is the "Renee Award" which was created by Bella and Ces in the UK, in honour of their friend Renee.In Bella's own words "This is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed and watching it grow. I hope it finds it's way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns.”

I should pass this award on to five other bloggers but find it impossible to narrow it down to you. I am sure that I will still be in the spirit of the award if I pass it on to all you lovely people who visit this blog regularly, with thanks and appreciation for all your comments. My apologies for being rather remiss about replying to comments of late. Hopefully this should improve now that things are slowing down growing and planting wise - there's more time to draw breath.Thanks muchly for the award Joanne !