Dancing with Joy!

Well that is strange you say something one day and poof there it is the next! Whilst inspecting and watering the garden earlier you will never guess what I found. Yes a little round courgette! Nestled amongst the foliage   I noticed a little smaller than a golf ball my first courgette of the year. All the courgettes have produced an abundance of flowers but so far all have been male. Typical as this house is over run by males, as if there isn't enough already!

And that is not the only surprise I have had today take a peek at the next photo!

Melons!

Yes melons! There are about five little pearl sized melons on one of the plants. And yes as usual I had my little dance of joy! The other plants is also full of flowers so things are finally looking good.

I picked the first of the green beans today, there was not enough for dinner so I have frozen them until more are ready. The ones I picked today were quite fat and if left on the plant it would halt the plant from producing much more. I also picked some peas which I think will probably be the last. With all the wet weather the plants have mildew on them.

Unfortunately the above photo is a bit blurred however I am sure you can make out the little pepper. This plant has about five little peppers and is still producing more flowers.

Outside grown tomatoes

As I was picking the green beans there were a few bees busy around the runner beans. These are full of flowers and it is looking like we may have another bumper crop of these again this year.

The girls had a fun time digging in the pile of soil that I had emptied out of the potato bags. I left it there for them to keep them away from the raised beds and vegetables. My plan seems to be working, however they are making a right mess. I just get the broom out and sweep it into a pile again for their release tomorrow.

That is it from me for another day, I hope you have enjoyed reading. Until next time x

what a week

Well after a very hectic couple of weeks hopefully I can slow down a bit. The craft fair went quite well considering it was my first. I made a few sales not as much as I would have liked but there is always next time. I am hoping to do another one in a couple of weeks so I shall keep you posted.

Now back to gardening! We have had a fair bit of rain over the weekend so the water butts are full up again and the ground is nice and moist. The courgettes are full of flowers but no fruit as of yet. The melon plants in the greenhouse are also full of flowers. I am eagerly awaiting any sign of a mini melon! The tomatoes are on the turn in the greenhouse and the ones outside are also now full of fruit. I just hope the dreaded blight stays away.

I think the girls will be enjoying all of the cabbages this year, they are full of caterpillars which have munched right through all of them. It is my own fault for not netting them I thought perhaps with the rotten weather we have had and hardly any sightings of the cabbage white I would be safe. However we live and learn and I will be sure to net them next year. There is no point doing it now as too much damage has been done.

There are only four more bags of potatoes left and all that we have had so far have been great tasting and of a good size and quantity. I will be growing the same varieties next year and maybe a new one too. The pumpkins I replanted seem to have recovered from their move, now all I need is for them to produce some lovely large pumpkins!

The leeks are growing quite well too this year. I am going to go and put a cover on them shortly so as I don't lose them to the leek moth like last year. Leek and potato soup is a family favourite and it would be nice to be able to make it with home grown leeks. The onions are still in the summerhouse drying out. I should be able to get them strung up by early next week.

With all the rain the rhubarb has grown to huge proportions I will be taking the last few stalks of that later today and then leave the rest to die down ready to move onto the vegetable plot in late autumn/early winter as this is the best time to move fruit when it is in a dormant state.

The tayberry bush has managed to survive after the damage the girls keep doing to it. I will not need to worry about pruning it that's for sure. The blueberry bushes don't appear to be growing much but hopefully I will get some fruit from them next year.

I have sowed some more lettuce in boxes up on the decking, the girls have as yet to get on there so my lettuce should be safe from their greedy beaks!

Well that is it from me for today. I hope you all had a great weekend. Until next time x

The big day has arrived!

It has been an extremely busy week. However not much gardening has been done except some harvesting of potatoes, peas and my first ever carrots! And they were rather tasty too. The green beans will be soon ready for picking and the tomatoes are beginning to swell.

I had an escapee this morning. Dory had somehow managed to get through the run and found herself amongst my prized vegetables! I went to give them their scraps and I noticed that Dory was the wrong side of the fence! She had been busy digging amongst the green beans and peas, managing to break four green bean plants in the process. As you can imagine I was not best pleased and trying to catch her was a feat! 


It is now 4am and in less than six hours I shall be setting up my first craft stall. I have been busy getting everything ready and I am finally as ready as I will ever be. I am a bit nervous but hopefully all will be well.


For those of you that live locally the craft fair is at The scout hut in 12 Acre close, off Bell Lane in Kesgrave and it is on between 11am to 4pm.


Well that is it from me for now. I am off to try and get some sleep. I will post later on today to tell you all about my day x

Hook, line & sinker!

One of the melon plants

The weather has been fantastic the past few days, wall to wall sunshine! We had a pleasant day fishing, well Jay fished I crocheted. It was really sunny but very windy and I think I caught a bit too much sun as I felt a bit under the weather yesterday. However I would say that I caught more than jay did fish! I think it was a combination of too much sun and trying to do too much as I slept for fourteen hours solid!

It is the twins nineteenth birthday today so we have all been out for lunch on the waterfront. It was lovely to sit there and watch the world go by with the sun blazing. They had all trooped off to the pictures to see the latest batman film. I came home as I wanted to get out in the garden and I am not a batman fan either.

And it was a very productive if sweaty few hours! I weeded the whole of the vegetable plot, weeded the fruit border with the help of the girls of course. Every time I put my hand out to grab a weed it was pecked by one or the other of the girls.

I emptied out the big compost bin onto the vegetable plot as I have a large area that is empty. I have now planted out the two pumpkin plants that were in growbags in the little greenhouse. At the moment they look a bit withered but fingers crossed in a few days they will look healthy again, especially with all the rich compost that is now surrounding them.

I have scrubbed out the coop and given it a good clean as the girls were running about the garden, they ravaged the salad box which was full but all that remains are a few stumps! They also decided they wanted to empty the soil out of the raised bed that I had just harvested the onions from. Matilda is the main culprit, I keep taking her off and as soon as I turn round there she is at it again!

Not much left of my salad box!

I was quite pleasantly surprised by the size of some of the onions. It was a much better crop than the over winter ones. However I think I will still grow some over the winter again this year.

Just half of the harvest

The tomatoes are looking very good especially the ones in the greenhouse. After I had taken these photos and I was watering I saw a lot more and bigger than this one.

Greenhouse tomato

Sweetpea pot

One of the pepper plants you can just see the flower

Well that is it for another day. I hope you have enjoyed reading and seeing what is going on in my vegetable garden. Until next time x