A walk around the garden...
Outside the back door (south facing but shaded for much of the day by next door's house):
4 bush tomatoes, from left to right 2x Totem, Garden Pearl and one of the Balconi yellow plants that started off in the spare bedroom. I was hoping to get a quadgrow for this area as it would technically fit, but you can see from the line of the mortar between the bricks that there is a slope here, and it is not consistent. I think there is a chance that a quadgrow would crack with the weight of the water and plants, so I opted for a chiligrow and a home made self watering tray (an upturned half seed tray in a drip tray, covered with capillary matting. It stinks, but it works!
Outside the garden door (facing east):
If you can see over the ferns, which are nearly as tall as me, on the left is the garden seat with strawberries on. These have done very well and produced some nice fruit from the top layer (Marshmello). The bottom layer is Malwina, which is a late variety, currently in flower. 2 sorts of peas near the hotbin - Onward on the left and Hurst Greenshaft on the right. The hurst is in full flow but the plants have bent over under the weight of peas. The courgette plants (one green and one yellow, just starting to fruit) are huge, and are doing battle with self seeded nasturtiums which I keep having to massacre to keep them under control. The nasturtium on the fence has been just about killed by blackfly and needs removing.
The flower garden (facing south):
Another huge green courgette plant, the white currant bush laden with nearly ripe fruit and the little apple tree with at least 17 apples which are heavy enough to be bending the branches down. More peas, again bent over - Meteor on the left (nearly finished) and Hurst Greenshaft on the right, in full production. The Geisha currently indoors will follow the Meteor - at least that is the plan.
The fence end of the veg garden (facing south):
More courgettes, onions, runner beans, cucumbers and melons at the end of the path. The small peice of veggiemesh is supposed to be keeping cabbage root fly off the turnips, but they are getting a bit big. There is also some kohlrabi, which is about to bolt, and some spring onions, and on the path behind the japanese maple is half a cloche covered with veggiemesh which is covering my brokali and broccoli seedlings. The pole gardens contain herbs at the bottom and alpine strawberries and french beans (Topcrop and Purple Teepee) at the top - these are getting a few blackfly despite the close planting of nasturtiums (which are much more affected).
The patio end of the veg garden (technically I suppose this faces west as it has the hedge on the eastern side):
Yet another green courgette on the path, plus the perpetual strawberries and the main crop of tomatoes. 4 Sungold in the cold frame on the right, 1 Sungold and 3 Sweet Aperitif under the blowaway cover in the middle and 2 Roma and 1 Garden Pearl in the middle. The fruit cage behind contains blueberries and more strawberries.
Outside the back door (south facing but shaded for much of the day by next door's house):
4 bush tomatoes, from left to right 2x Totem, Garden Pearl and one of the Balconi yellow plants that started off in the spare bedroom. I was hoping to get a quadgrow for this area as it would technically fit, but you can see from the line of the mortar between the bricks that there is a slope here, and it is not consistent. I think there is a chance that a quadgrow would crack with the weight of the water and plants, so I opted for a chiligrow and a home made self watering tray (an upturned half seed tray in a drip tray, covered with capillary matting. It stinks, but it works!
Outside the garden door (facing east):
If you can see over the ferns, which are nearly as tall as me, on the left is the garden seat with strawberries on. These have done very well and produced some nice fruit from the top layer (Marshmello). The bottom layer is Malwina, which is a late variety, currently in flower. 2 sorts of peas near the hotbin - Onward on the left and Hurst Greenshaft on the right. The hurst is in full flow but the plants have bent over under the weight of peas. The courgette plants (one green and one yellow, just starting to fruit) are huge, and are doing battle with self seeded nasturtiums which I keep having to massacre to keep them under control. The nasturtium on the fence has been just about killed by blackfly and needs removing.
The flower garden (facing south):
Another huge green courgette plant, the white currant bush laden with nearly ripe fruit and the little apple tree with at least 17 apples which are heavy enough to be bending the branches down. More peas, again bent over - Meteor on the left (nearly finished) and Hurst Greenshaft on the right, in full production. The Geisha currently indoors will follow the Meteor - at least that is the plan.
The fence end of the veg garden (facing south):
More courgettes, onions, runner beans, cucumbers and melons at the end of the path. The small peice of veggiemesh is supposed to be keeping cabbage root fly off the turnips, but they are getting a bit big. There is also some kohlrabi, which is about to bolt, and some spring onions, and on the path behind the japanese maple is half a cloche covered with veggiemesh which is covering my brokali and broccoli seedlings. The pole gardens contain herbs at the bottom and alpine strawberries and french beans (Topcrop and Purple Teepee) at the top - these are getting a few blackfly despite the close planting of nasturtiums (which are much more affected).
The patio end of the veg garden (technically I suppose this faces west as it has the hedge on the eastern side):
Yet another green courgette on the path, plus the perpetual strawberries and the main crop of tomatoes. 4 Sungold in the cold frame on the right, 1 Sungold and 3 Sweet Aperitif under the blowaway cover in the middle and 2 Roma and 1 Garden Pearl in the middle. The fruit cage behind contains blueberries and more strawberries.
Comment