Windy!!

Today is very windy and I had to tie the little greenhouse down - remember what happened to the last one?


We have had a bit of a mixture of sunshine and rain - perfect growing conditions, trouble is that the weeds and the grass like it too and we are having a job keeping on top of both.

The week has been pretty good veg wise. I have started to harvest the early potatoes: Rosabelle. I say earlies but I can't be sure, they are huge and look more like maincrop to me. I am not too bothered though because I won't be growing them again, they are very nice looking and big enough for jacket potatoes but they are very floury and don't have much flavour. They look pretty good for all that though.


We have had a few peas but I didn't manage to get to the kitchen before they podded themselves and jumped into my mouth. I also planted the mangetout peas and we will wait to see how they get on. My peppers were looking a bit sad in the greenhouse and the leaves were all curling up, so I looked on my trusty forum - The Grow your own Grapevine - and it seems that they might have a deficiency of some sort. I planted one and it seems a little better so, as soon as the wind dies down I will plant the rest outside. The chili peppers, however, are fine. I think I will leave them inside in the safety of the greenhouse.

We have started harvesting the soft fruit with a vengeance. Apart from the strawberries, which are slowing down now, we have been picking a lot of gooseberries, black and redcurrants and raspberries. This is just some of the resulting produce.

No, I didn't grow the lemons but I thought it added a bit of colour to the picture. There is still a lot more fruit on the bushes. I think I shall probably harvest and freeze it, and then think of what to do with it during the cold winter months.

The "unknown" tomatoes are starting to flower. I say unknown, because I just kept the seeds from a shop-bought one last year and planted them. Trouble is, as I don't know what variety they are, I don't know how to look after them (I had the same trouble with the kids). I am guessing, but now they are flowering, I feel a bit happier.

Courgettes, yellow, green and round are all doing well and, now I know how to keep the slugs off the tender plants, I have some tomatillos and auberjeans coming on nicely in the greenhouse. One of the melons has a fruit on it and I played pimp and fertilised it with a male flower so I am hopeful that we can manage at least one melon ball starter this year.

The only other thing of note is to give you an updated picture of the front bed: A bit better than than a couple of weeks ago don't you think?