Growing your own fruit and veg… it doesn’t get more exciting that this does it?
Spuds, pumpkins, courgettes, peas, beans, garlic, onions, parsnips, carrots, cucumbers, fennel, blueberries, raspberries, redcurrants, strawberries, rhubarb… Bronny and I decided this year to transform the garden into our very own allotment!
(BTW if anyone from Waltham Forest council reads this blog, then please let us know what has happened to our February 2008 allotment application…)
The Garden, mid April 2009
The first job was to get organised. We cut some plants back and started moving things into more convenient places - like the compost bins. Then, in an exhibition of fine carpentry, I built a raised bed to go in the centre of the garden (photo below.)
The Garden, late June 2009
Things are now starting to take shape. We’ve germinated lots of seedlings and started to plant them.
The Garden, late July
By July, and we’re actually starting to harvest things: spuds, lettuce, strawberrys, garlic, onions and beans. OK, not enought to live, but still tremendously exciting…
In May/June a swarm of aphids descended on the garden. After some intensive Internet research we found out that we could buy a pack of ladybirds, who would soon rid us of the aphids by eating them. We were even suckered into buying a ladybird house as well. In this photo, you can observe a ladybird moving in the opposite direction of the aphid behind it - despite us cheering him to go the other way.
From this modest black bin…..
… came 3lb 10 1/2 oz of spuds. What a feast!
Broad beans.
Some recently harvested Garlic. Our composting and liquid feed efforts really paid-off. The garlic that didn’t recieve such TLC was much smaller.
A recent haul of garlic and onions.
And interestingly, we have even managed to grow a golf ball!
This years first strawberry.