The disorganised vegetable garden

The Vegetable Garden area at the back of the house is a somewhat disorganised garden. My plan here is to have if full of perrenials, herbs, rhubarb etc. as well as things that self seed and come up where they will year after year. i have found when I have struggled to grow ssomething here that every now and then a random plant will come up somewhere, from seed in the garden and be really strong and vigorous. So we have artichokes that spring up all over the place, sometimes I move them to a more auspicous spot, a variety of lettuces all over the yard now and of course the Italian parsley. I am hoping these poppies will spread all over the yard as well. I think I am aiming to choose my own weeds! then I can just admire them, or eat them, instead of pulling them out.



I have a lot of leeks and garlic that have either come up from seed or from bulbs that I didnt find when I harvested them last time. I have been thinning them out and using them for a few months now. The garlic is quite mild and now the bulbs are quite a good size.Once you have eaten garlic grown in your garden there is no going back to the product that is available in the supermarket or greengrocer.

This carrot survived all through the hot dry summer so I have just left it there to so what will happen. It is about to flower so I hope it will spread nice strong seeds all about and we will just find carrots about the place.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An abundance of eggs

Image
Silkie eggs Duck eggs Turkey eggs Hen eggs With five silkie hens, seven regular hens of mixed breed, four ducks of indeterminate sex and ten turkey hens we generally have an abundance of eggs. Despite the fact that several of the turkeys and hens are not laying, as they are broody the, there seem to be more than ever. Certainly more than two people can eat. Peter generally takes them to work and either sells them or gives them away. The turkey ones have not been that popular though. Today he said someone asked him for more turkey eggs as they had made an omelet with them and it was the best they have ever made. I find they rise up really well in omelets and Frittatas. I plan a big cooking evening sometime this week to turn the eggs into little herb quiches to put in the freezer for over the holidays when we will have a house full.
Read more

On my mind

Image
Puppy proofing my garden so the adorable Elle does not do too much damage! This is the result of my leaving a pot plant at ground level on the back porch. She is having a rest after her gardening!
Read more

A Bumper Citrus Harvest

Image
We have six old citrus trees here, two mandarins, two oranges, two lemons. They have fruited quite well most years since we have been here but this year they have the most extraordinary crop. They are loaded. We probably should have thinned them out but left it a bit too late. We have been eating the mandarins for a few weeks now, they are a bit tart but nice nevertheless. they are getting sweeter every day. We will have to give lots away and find some good mandarin recipes. I might have a go at preserving some segments as well. The oranges are not quite as prolific but will still keep us going for many months. The great thing about the winter fruit is that you can leave it on the tree and just pick it as you need it. We have planted some new citrus trees as well. they are very slow to grow but the ruby grapefruit tree has a decent crop this year. I really like grapefruit for breakfast. I will have to look after the other small citrus a bit more this winter and hopefully th...
Read more