Veggies ...

Wow!

Wasn't today glorious?

After a walk down to the supermarket, Baby Plum and I headed into the garden to pick the final veggies and have a bit of a tidy up.

The last courgette...these have done really well this year!

The last two cucumbers ... not 100% sure whether these are edible!

Arghhhhhh!! More green tomatoes!

Peppers ... I neglected these, so didn't get as many as I do normally....oh well, this summer I was busy growing a baby rather than growing my veg!!

I have officially given up growing tomatoes ...

About five years or so ago I first tried growing my own veg ... I didn't have a garden at the time, just a very small patio area. I had one large plant pot, a tomato plant, a courgette plant, a pepper plant, an aubergine and some basil. All in the one pot. My mum had seen an article in The Times called the "one pot garden" or something like that ... and I gave it a try. I had a whole summer of beautiful ripe tomatoes and other veg ....

In 2007 me and Mr Plum bought our flat with a garden! Yes ... A GARDEN! In 2008 Mr Plum bought me a greenhouse for my birthday ... and the growing began!

But .... I have not had a very successful time with my tomatoes .... here is most of this year's crop ... I still have a few more to pick.

If you look closely you will see three ripe tomatoes ...woopie!

Green tomato chutney, again, anyone?

No ... I couldn't face it again, either! I still have a fridge full of jars from last year! So I have chopped them up and stuck them in the freezer. I don't think that I will bother growing tomatoes next year!

In the garden

Poor Mr Plum ... I think that even though everyone has said that it is highly unlikely that our baby would arrive today ... he was secretly hoping that I would wake up this morning and be in labour! Which ... I wasn't!

We have spent a few hours in the garden ... I haven't been able to do a huge amount as it is too much effort to kneel down (and even more effort to attempt to get up again!).

Here's the veggie patch ... the courgettes have been brilliant this year and are still going strong! I have a few green tomatoes - but I don't think they ever recovered from their neglect earlier this summer .... the squash are flowering so am hopeful that I will get some veg off them this year too!

My strawberry plants which I ordered from The Guardian arrived yesterday. They are late strawberries - so, you never know, we may get some fruit this year .... Mr Plum very kindly dug over this bit of soil and planted them for me.

Three cucumbers growing in the greenhouse ....

More tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse!

Blackberries at the back of our neighbours half of the garden (which they never use). Mr Plum is currently out there hacking away at brambles at picking fruit! Hopefully we will get enough to make some lovely jam!

Late potatoes in pots which will hopefully be ready for Christmas ...

Lavender picked for sachets ...

Cup of tea and a piece of cake for me ...

What have you been up to today?

The Edible Gardener

Did you watch Alys Fowler's new programme on BBC2 tonight? It was called "The Edible Gardener" and I'm sure you will be able to catch it on i-player if you missed it. The programme accompanies Alys' new book: 'The Edible Gardener - How To Have Your Garden And Eat It'.

It was inspirational - I really must get out into the garden and sow some veg! The Peatini's looked fab! I must remember those when Baby Plum has arrived!!

Borough Market, Today's Harvest and a bit of Cliff!

I'm feeling a bit sad today as I have to go back to work tomorrow ..... I have had a lovely weekend with Mr Plum though (although, for I did feel like an extra in Dawson's Creek for a bit of it ...but that's another story!)

Yesterday we got up very early and headed to Borough Market. I love this market ... I know that it is quite overpriced ... but it is nice to walk around, taste a few things and pick up a bit of cheese ... some olives ... salami and bread!

We met our friends at Maria's Market Cafe - I would recommend this cafe as a good starting point on a cold Autumn morning. So full of two mugs of strong tea, a bubble and egg roll for myself and a bacon and sausage roll for Mr Plum - we wandered around a picked up some goodies for lunch!

We had planned to head to Spitalfields Market after lunch ... but full of cheese and cava, we just sat in my friends lovely Barbican flat and talked the afternoon away!

Another early morning today! We headed to the car boot sale at Crystal Palace ... no goodies to be found there today ... which was a little disappointing! Anyway, after a quick dash around Tesco we are home reading the Sundays. I have just picked the last of my peppers and a few tomatoes, fed the kittens and am now watching Summer Holiday!

ps: how does anyone manage to knit with two kittens running around attacking the wool? Any tips welcome!! (have tried shutting them out of the room - but they cry!)

Summer Days

The UK has been blessed with glorious summer weather (well, up until the torrential thunder storm of 0630 this morning!) ... so Mr Plum and I have been spending lots of time out in the garden, but also out and about enjoying touristy stuff in London.

We have been taking advantage of National Rail's Two for One offer on major tourist attractions (if you travel by train)....which makes a day out in London a bit more affordable!

So far we have been to Kew Gardens and London Zoo - both of which were fab days out and places that I had wanted to visit since moving down to London almost 10 years ago, but always felt that two adult tickets would make it quite a pricey day out.

We have spent this weekend at home doing housework and jobs in the garden.  The vegetable patch is looking GREAT! I have my first head of purple sprouting brocolli, lots of flowers on my tomatoes, flower buds on my potatoes, and my first little courgette appearing! Hurray!!!  Such a shame that I have the back to work Sunday blues ....

Busy in the Garden

I have spent this lovely bank holiday Monday pottering in the garden and tending to my veg ... my parents-in-law were visiting over the weekend and drove us to a nearby garden centre to get various plants (we don't have a car so are somewhat limited in how much we can carry back from our nearest B&Q!) ... here we go, a little update on what I've got growing in the garden this year .... I'm not sure my father-in-law was ready for me to load the car up with 4 bags of compost, a grow bag, some orchid compost and pretty flowers to attract bees!  Oh well, they did offer to take us out!

From left to right we have got ... fennel, sunflowers, squash, cucumber and some lettuce on the top shelf ... 

and on the bottom we've got some peas, peppers, a tub of rocket and a propagator with some pansy seeds in.

Here we have various tomatoes (due to the gales I am not sure what variety is which ...), aubergines, marigolds and propagators with violas, lupins and stocks ... on the bottom shelf there is a grow bag with 4 strawberry plants in ....

Three potato barrels! 

And finally, the "plot" ... from the left we've got purple sprouting broccoli, red onions, leeks, broad beans, courgettes and some parsnip and beetroot seeds .... when the peas are a little bigger I will transplant them outside.

What have you been up to this bank holiday?

Seeds!

In anticipation of the Spring (!) I have just ordered my seeds for next year - how exciting!  I have spent ages looking through Alan Titchmarsh's "The Kitchen Gardener" (a birthday present from Mr Plum) and "The Greenhouse Expert" and have chosen the following to be planted next year:

February/March: 

Aubergine

Courgette

Leeks

Onions

Peppers

Potatoes

Tomatoes (4 different varieties!)

April:

Cucumber

Fennel

Petty Pan Squash

Spuds!

Today was the day that I decided to check what was growing in my potato barrel!  I am very please to report that I have harvested nearly a kilo of lovely little potatoes (I can't remember what variety they are though!) ... looking forward to sampling some tomorrow!

Harvest Time

I have spent the last 4 days resting a sprained foot and haven't had the chance to get out in the garden and check what is occurring. Today I ventured out in the Autumn drizzle and spotted slightly pink tomatoes - finally! I have given the tomato plants a good trim and picked a few fruits which I will put on a sunny window sill to encourage ripening. Hopefully the rest of the fruits will naturally ripen on the plants.

I also picked all my chives which I will chop up and freeze, 3 green peppers (I will leave the rest to go red on the plant), the entire crop from my peas ... (3 pods!), some very small spring onions and a handful of rocket. I'm not sure whether I will use a grow bag again next year as I thought I would have more luck with my salad by using one.

Next year, I will plan what I am going to plant and where I am going to plant it with more care. Rather than shoving as much as possible into my greenhouse, I will utilize the outside space better. I will be reading Alan Titchmarsh this afternoon and planning what to plant this Autumn....

Waiting for the harvest

Tonight, while out in my greenhouse giving the veg a good water, I thought I would start my very own blog - which I have wanted to do for ages! My interests are all things crafty ... growing veg, making stuff ... and dreaming of chickens running round the garden (for their eggs ...)

Are you sick of modern life?

Do you yearn for the days when life was simpler?

So do I .. although I was only born in the 70's! 

I finally got a garden of my own last summer...and my greenhouse earlier this year!  My crop this year includes tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers, beetroot, pumpkins, butternut squash, rocket, spring onions, potatoes, peas and cabbages!  Keep reading to find out how they progress!