The First Tomato of 2011

The first tomato of 2011 I just have to decide whether to just eat it or have it sliced on a sandwich with back pepper

This is Stevia ,I've been trying to get hold of this for about 10 years. It is 40 times sweeter than sugar  yet has no calories  and doesn't effect blood sugar. I'm going to pick the first of the 10 pots next week and dry and powder the leaves for stewing fruit

Autumn planted Onions

These are the Autumn planted onions  that were planted last year.They will be ready to lift shortly. I must admit I am rather disappointed with this crop.what with the very hard winter and the very dry spring I feel that the space could have been better used for another  winter crop

Soft fruit

Red Dessert Gooseberries

Loads of soft Fruit ready for picking . pounds and pounds of it .All I can say is  when planning the fruit garden ,it seemed a good idea at the time . Its not only the picking but the fruit pies and crumbles for the freezer plus the jams ,stewed fruit and chutney's a lot of work ahead  

Boscop Giant Blackcurrants

Raspberries

Raspberry

Broad Beans in Greenhouse

Masses of flowers

 Believe it or not these are the Broad Beans I sowed on the 21st May . Only through doing this blog have I realised how quickly these beans grow when they are grown under glass. Before sowing I added a good dose of pure fish meal to the soil and rotavated  it into the top 5 to 6 inches. I plant them very close together 4 to 6 inches apart, in three rows in a 2 foot bed .They have to be  staked  and tied  in as they are liable to fall and then we get the domino effect The beans  are now 4 feet high and an army of very small bumble bees are fertilising them. Iwill have to stop them when they reach the glass which is 6 to 7 feet high. all they need now is water water and more water .

Giant Bulbs bloom

These are the very large Lily bulbs I bought from a newspaper in the spring .They are coming into flower and and are truly gorgeous. Well worth waiting for.

 The perfume is gorgeous 

Giant Lily bulbs flower at last .They are so beautiful

New Potatoes

I only thought tonight when I was lifting the new potatoes tonight that I had forgotten to blog my new potatoes. I lifted the first  lot over three weeks ago. These are Rocket and are huge more like the size of a maincrop they taste fantastic

Sempervivum in Pig Troughs

 I finally got around to planting the Sempervivum that I grew from seeds three years ago.This heavy stone pot was bought at the car boot sale a few weeks ago. They look a little sparse at the moment but they will soon fill the pots.




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These Pig troughs have been knocking around for years they came from the pig sties that where originallyat the back of the house years ago

I have tried growing herbs in them also half hardy annuals but the troughs  are too shallow and the compost  dried out too quickly and not enough room for the roots

Hopefully this choice is finally the correct one they looked so nice when they are finished. I was just thinking the troughs them selves must be abouT 150 years old

They looked so nice on the wall that edges the Vegetable garden

Hopefully These two small plants will be happy in their new homes

The first Strawberries

 I picked 5lb of Strawberries yesterday not bad for a first picking.When my granddaughters come later today they won't last long.
I also picked about a pound of Raspberries.
they where a bit rain damaged

so I stewed them with a little sugar and when they were cool stirred them into a large tub of vanilla ice cream. It worked so well I am going to try it out on the other soft fruits as well Gooseberries Black Currants and Red Currants

Masses of Red Currants looks like I'll have to buy sugar for making  lots of jam

I didn't think the transplanted gooseberries would produce anything this year but there will be  a few pies at least

A really good crop on the Black Currants

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The Roses

 There isn't a rose bed as a feature .in my garden  .The roses are either growing up walls or through shrubs even over the arches, but in the main are mixed into the flower borders .there are 
florabundas, hybrid T's, ramblers, patio roses, dwarfs and climbers just doing there own thing

garden views 2nd June 2011