It rained today - unfortunately it started just as we got to the plot after our
jam-making session this morning! It was lovely rain though and we had a nice view from inside the greenhouse.
That's the purple-podded mangetout on the right and this is the colour of the water that is drained after they've been cooked for about 3 mins - pretty huh?
During one of the bright spells between the heavy showers I managed to get our 6 Brussels sprouts (
Revenge) planted. 4 on Plot 7 and 2 on Plot 3, where we figure the ground is probably harder, so may make for better, tighter sprouts. They're all under netting with a cloche (to protect from wind for the moment) and slug pellets.
Jamie's trying to weed around the raspberries on Plot3 but it's a bit of a nightmare, with couch grass, common figwort and horsetail to name a few of the most prevalent weeds...
We were so pleased to see this new visitor - a male bullfinch and his partner - to the hedgerow while we were hiding in the greenhouse! He'll get a mention on my
Wildlife Blog, but is so great looking that he deserves a mention here too!
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| Not the best photo, but hopefully he'll return |
The cucumber in the greenhouse has done just what it was meant to do by climbing through the shelf and clinging on - perfect.
And this was today's harvest (as well as the strawbs). Broad beans and spuds are on the menu for a while :-) We don't freeze our veggies which is why we generally only plant a few of everything. The only preserving we do tends to be pickling and chutneys (and now jam).
There was no rain yesterday (thank goodness) when I helped on the HAHA stall at the Hungerford Primary School fete. It was a really good afternoon with hundreds of people.
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| Bonnie helping to make paper pots and planting a bean |
We made up all of our insect hotels and by the end of the day children were running around trying to find their own sticks and twigs to fill the remaining couple of bottles! We'll definitely be
making more bug hotels at future events - it proved very popular.
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| Zoe & me helping with bug hotels |
That's the purple-podded mangetout on the right and this is the colour of the water that is drained after they've been cooked for about 3 mins - pretty huh?
During one of the bright spells between the heavy showers I managed to get our 6 Brussels sprouts (Revenge) planted. 4 on Plot 7 and 2 on Plot 3, where we figure the ground is probably harder, so may make for better, tighter sprouts. They're all under netting with a cloche (to protect from wind for the moment) and slug pellets.
Jamie's trying to weed around the raspberries on Plot3 but it's a bit of a nightmare, with couch grass, common figwort and horsetail to name a few of the most prevalent weeds...
And this was today's harvest (as well as the strawbs). Broad beans and spuds are on the menu for a while :-) We don't freeze our veggies which is why we generally only plant a few of everything. The only preserving we do tends to be pickling and chutneys (and now jam).
There was no rain yesterday (thank goodness) when I helped on the HAHA stall at the Hungerford Primary School fete. It was a really good afternoon with hundreds of people.
I had just come in from the garden and the skies opened up and the thunder roared - yes welcome rain for sure. I need to take some pictures of the progress in my garden, little as it is there is some. One job still to do is covering the brasicas with netting, as those pesky white cabbage butterflies will no doubt try and lay their eggs, if not already. I am loving the bullfinch, we have had Blue Jays visiting the garden, feel so lucky. Thanks for sharing the progress on your plots.
ReplyDeleteIf our brassicas aren't covered on the day they're planted the pigeons eat them down to stalks before the butterflies even get a sniff of them! Ah, a jay. Haven't seen one of them in a long while.
DeleteWhat a fab harvest so colourful. Well done for introducing so many children to insect hotels.
ReplyDeleteI hope the bullfinches stay away from your fruit buds, They are handsome birds though.
ReplyDeleteAh, I meant to check what their food of choice is - thanks
DeleteI am definitely going to grow purple podded mangetout. That cooking water is amazing. I'm glad the bug hotels were such a success.
ReplyDelete