Tag: Sweet peas

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Wildlife11 Comments

Six from a frosty allotment

Reclaiming Paradise

I nipped along to the allotment today to see if Storm Arwen had done any damage (it hadn’t). So here are #SixOnSaturday from the allotment. This year’s very impressive runner beans were still standing, if looking a little the worse for wear, so I cut down all the bean tendrils for the compost bin: The sweet peas are still hanging on in there, so I left the wigwam up to provide them with a bit of support. Didn’t manage to get an in focus photo though (I blame my frozen fingers). I found a desiccated bean and brought it home … Continue reading Six from a frosty allotment

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers2 Comments

Every one a winner

Reclaiming Paradise

I’ve fallen a wee bit behind with the blog but here is an update from last week’s allotment show. It was a joy to take part after last year’s was cancelled. It threatened to rain but in the end the sun shone. I arrived in good time in the morning to rush round the plot and harvest my vegetables, piling them up outside the shed so that I could choose and polish any prospective winners. Here was my initial harvest: raspberries, apples, ruby chard, courgettes, potatoes, sweet peas and a huge bucket of runner beans. You can also see my … Continue reading Every one a winner

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden3 Comments

Welcome harvest

Reclaiming Paradise

I’ve been away for a little while, catching up with family, swimming in lakes and stretching my legs rather more than I intended. It was nice to get away from some of the everyday stresses but it was also nice to get home to see what was happening in the garden. Here are some of the joys I came back to: peas – green and purple, broad beans, raspberries and a few strawberries, lettuce and the last of the redcurrants. Quite a feast. The red currants have been a bit of a disappointment this year as the best of them … Continue reading Welcome harvest

Why I garden2 Comments

December: four seasons in one week

Reclaiming Paradise

It’s been a bit bleak here for the last few days but today the sun shone and I got out in the garden and along to the allotment for the first time in weeks. The wintersweet flowers are starting to open in the front garden (photo above). I did a bit of weeding and general tidying up. I was astonished to find the spring bulbs peeking up through the soil, under the weeds: I covered them up with some leaf mould mulch, since I had removed their cosy weed covering. Down at the allotment the weeds were doing well too … Continue reading December: four seasons in one week

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers11 Comments

Winter

Reclaiming Paradise

Winter arrived this morning, with the temperature down to 3 degrees in the seed palace. In anticipation I brought the last of the Howgate Wonder apples in yesterday. Here, with a tennis ball for scale to show their wondrousness I nipped along to the allotment this afternoon to catch some daylight and to see what was going on there. The sprouts have been one of this year’s runaway successes. There are far too many for Christmas dinner (especially if we are reduced to minimum numbers around the table) so I reckoned we’d better make a start on them now. Here’s … Continue reading Winter

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers19 Comments

Allotment rainbows

Reclaiming Paradise

I nipped along to the allotment this morning on a mission to pick up a couple of things but with not much time to do any actual work. It’s a quiet time on the plot with mostly just keeping on top of weeds the main task. It had been a wet morning so there was nobody about and the birds were all out in force. I was struck by all the things that were flowering in our plot. So here’s our colourful #SixOnSaturday Sweet peas still blooming beautifully. They’re growing up the runner bean poles. Just as well as there … Continue reading Allotment rainbows

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden10 Comments

Late summer promise

Reclaiming Paradise

It poured with rain in the night and I wandered round the garden this morning to see what was happening in the vegetable beds, accompanied by my furry assistant. I had a sense that the season was turning. The potatoes and soft fruit are nearly finished and I was beginning to worry if anything would take their place. A closer look showed the promise of late summer joys. So here’s what I found for today’s #SixOnSaturday. First, in my runner bean bed, where the sweet peas have been blooming for a few weeks, the runner beans are beginning to form … Continue reading Late summer promise

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Recycling and reusing, Why I garden13 Comments

Sowing seeds of hope

Reclaiming Paradise

We are living in strange times. Plans are being cancelled, people are worried. Yesterday, I tried to keep a focus on the future by sowing seeds. Here are some I sowed earlier, some mixed salad leaves, in a pot in the seed palace, just germinated but ready to grow into something exciting in a few weeks: Yesterday I made a start on the more delicate seeds, sowing tomato seeds in a little propagator indoors. I’ve started with two varieties: Tigerella and San Marzano. I have some others in packets but I’ll sow a few at a time to see what … Continue reading Sowing seeds of hope

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers11 Comments

Winter work

Reclaiming Paradise

Last weekend I did some DIY in the garden to provide some protection for the expected storms. I noticed a crack in the door of the seed palace. The palace has done a great job protecting seedlings but this needed some attention. I got out the ancient tools and added a splint of wood to hold it all in place Since the problem had been caused by the door banging in the wind, I also added an extra hook and eye to keep the doors shut. It’s all nice and cosy now and looking after the sweet pea seedlings, which … Continue reading Winter work

Cooking and eating from the garden, Why I garden2 Comments

Hardy Watercress

Reclaiming Paradise

I was out in the garden, doing some tidying up after this week’s sharp frosts. the temperature dropped to -3 degrees during the week, leaving beautiful patterns on the broccoli and sparkles on the wild rose hips Unfortunately it also killed off the last of the nasturtiums so today’s task was to clear them up. While I was outside I spotted broad beans coming cheerfully up despite the cold: tiny saladings under a cloche: and sweet peas thriving in the seed palace: Signs of spring indeed. The cold earlier in the week had also brought ice to the pond: and … Continue reading Hardy Watercress