Tag: Broad beans

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden4 Comments

Let the gluts begin

Reclaiming Paradise

Been away for a wee holiday, enjoying the great outdoors, lots of walking, wildlife and dipping my toes in water, history, art, literature and gardens. But I’ll leave writing about that for another day. The main thing is coming home to find that the cats have survived and the vegetables are flourishing The allotment is groaning in onions and strawberries and there is promise of lots more to come: These are the tomatoes and cucumbers in pots in the new seed palace. There are lots more in the ground. The cucumbers are doing beautifully in the cucumber frame, although a … Continue reading Let the gluts begin

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden7 Comments

Spaghetti junction

Reclaiming Paradise

Did you know that spaghetti grows underground? Nor did I until I found a vast network of it underneath the strawberry patch at the allotment: Actually, it’s not spaghetti, these are couch grass roots and they form a vast underground network right across our allotment. It is hard not to admire their tenacity but today, their bid for world domination has been thwarted, slightly. The strawberries are looking a little happier, although I can spy a few green shoots of spaghetti still sticking up amongst them: It was a surprisingly satisfying way to spend an afternoon away from the cares … Continue reading Spaghetti junction

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden6 Comments

Sunshine and rainbows

Reclaiming Paradise

Despite a busy weekend, I found some time for the allotment this afternoon. We surveyed the plot again and now have our plan down in writing. There is blossom on the plum tree and birds flying all round the plot. Our overwintered onions are doing well and we are still harvesting purple sprouting broccoli and some baby kale.  The autumn sown broad beans have been almost completely hopeless: old seed, pests? We’re not sure why but one brave little plant has survived: This should give us lovely beans in early summer. We sowed a whole lot more today to keep … Continue reading Sunshine and rainbows

Why I garden2 Comments

Autumn tidying

Reclaiming Paradise

Today was a garden day, it seemed like the first in months. The garden has been doing its best producing wonderful fruit and vegetables, especially plums, apples and tomatoes but, what with the allotment, and the musicians, various other family and work things, a wee trip to Norway and the small matter of the cracked bone in my arm, it is beginning to look seriously neglected.  So today I dug over one of the tomato beds, filled it with garden compost and sowed some broad beans. That sounds like it should have taken, maybe half an hour? But it took much … Continue reading Autumn tidying

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers6 Comments

Fig

Reclaiming Paradise

I have a fig tree in a pot, given to us for our silver wedding by a much loved and much missed cousin. Every year I worry that the winter will finish it off, but every year it has survived: It even made it through the snow this year, when we had more snow than I can ever remember in Edinburgh. I think it may be the twiggy things you can see in this picture: But this summer, what with heatwaves and such, it has not only survived but is producing actual figs: How exciting is that? I’m not holding … Continue reading Fig

Cooking and eating from the garden12 Comments

Pea soup and summer pudding

Reclaiming Paradise

My gardening is still a little restricted by my damaged arm but I’m enjoying doing some light harvesting and cooking. Today’s haul included pea soup:   Made mostly from mange tout peas with some added whole peas from the heritage salmon pink pods – all very beautiful in flower but equally good to eat We also had some broad bean guacamole Recipe here Later we had summer pudding. This is a dish which looks unlikely, but was described by a young visitor as ‘the best thing I’ve ever tasted’. It didn’t last long: Summer pudding recipe Mixed soft fruit – … Continue reading Pea soup and summer pudding

Why I garden4 Comments

Hedging my bets

Reclaiming Paradise

The privet hedge at the front of the house has been having a growth spurt. I gave it a ritual hack back this afternoon but I had to stop when a nervous sparrow flitted in and out several times. It seems to have a nest in there so I stopped cutting, refilled the bird bath and left it in peace. Meanwhile the privet hedge at the back of the garden is just beginning to rejuvenate after the removal of the conifers which blocked the light from it, but it’s going to be a little slow: I’ve showed it the picture … Continue reading Hedging my bets

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers7 Comments

Pigeon 1: Broccoli 0

Reclaiming Paradise

  Remember that lovely new raised bed that I made a couple of weeks ago? Well I put it in place round last year’s broccoli patch, in the process, removing the netting that was keeping the pigeons off. The broccoli has been coming back to life in the last couple of weeks, so I was reluctant to dig it out. But Ms or Mr pigeon spotted the lack of netting and moved in, munching their way through all the remaining florets: Hint taken: time to dig up the broccoli and prepare the bed for this year’s runner beans. For how … Continue reading Pigeon 1: Broccoli 0

Why I garden3 Comments

November blooms

Reclaiming Paradise

Someone, or something, has ripped up the cardboard on the raised beds: I suspect Bella, though there was rather a bigger hole than she normally digs, so perhaps it was an urban fox.  We do get them from time to time. Anyway, I had planned to spend the day doing something else, but fixing the hole and replanting a few broad beans led me into the garden and onto doing more pottering. The leaves are falling fast from the monster sycamore in the front garden so, having dealt with the cardboard, my attention was turned to the front of the … Continue reading November blooms

Recycling and reusing4 Comments

Cardboard

Reclaiming Paradise

I cleared the courgette and marrow bed this afternoon.  They have been fantastic this year but all good things come to an end. I put down some compost in the raised bed and raked it over: This of course created a perfect cat playground so I made an emergency visit to my local DIY store to buy broad bean seeds and pick up some cardboard boxes: and noticed that some of them had faces: Back to to the raised bed, I laid out all the cardboard, cut a few more holes, and sowed broad beans in half of them: and … Continue reading Cardboard