Tuesday 12 June 2012

Slow Progress in the Veg Garden



I'm not going to rabbit on about the attrocious weather we have been having - only to say that I am grateful that it rained whilst we were on holiday - as I was worried that if we had a heatwave whilst we were away the veg garden would have suffered.  As it is, all I have to contend with is the amount of weeds that have sprung up, but even that is not as bad as I thought it would be.

Last years' Parsnip being kept for seed
 My first picture is of the Parsnip that I left to go to seed - it now stands at least 7 feet high and looks pretty magnificent.

Alliums
 "Kitchen garden gods" said Juvenal, the Roman satirist, about the pungent family of onions.

Allium flowers, Onions, Leeks and last years' leeks gone to seed.  The onion patch is the weediest in the garden at the moment.

Legumes
Early visitors to Troy, where Heinrich Schliemann excavated Priam's fabled palace, were said to have been fed on peas from the great king's larder.  One huge storage jar contained more than 400lb., which had remained perfectly preserved for 3,000 years.

Peas, Runner Beans, Broad Beans and container Peas.
These have all thrived in the wet weather - the runner beans were attacked by slugs when I first planted them out, one or two plants took a big hit from them, but they are starting to fight back.  I think the excess of rain has started to make the leaves turn a little yellow.

Brassicas
Calabrese and Broccoli - the names are Italian, but it is likely that these vegetables arrived from the eastern Mediterranean during the 17th century.  Philip Miller, who wrote one of the first gardening dictionaries in England in 1742, called broccoli 'Italian asparagus'; if you eat the first of the crop with some hollandaise sauce on the side, it is hard to decide which is the more ambrosial.

The brassicas are beginning to put on some growth and the pests don't seem to have bothered them too much - I did net them all before I went away as a precaution, but the slugs and snails seem to have left them alone in favour of the softer leaves of the spinach.

Roots
Modern carrots are all descended from purple and yellow types that came into Europe from Arabia in the 14th century.  Selection by 17th century Dutch growers produced the forerunners of the varieties that we grow today.

Progress on the parsnips, carrots, celery and beetroot is slow but sure - thankfully I still have full rows with no wind or rain damage.

Miscellany
Courgettes are Zucchini under a different name and they have the frightening capacity to metamorphose into marrows if you go on holiday at the wrong time. 

The squashes and courgettes seem to have stopped growing - they definitely need some warmer weather to accelerate their growth.  The spinach is surviving slug attacks, as you can see the leaves are a little holey - but I am not too worried yet as they are pretty hardy.

Lettuce
John Parkinson, the 17th century grand-daddy of all garden writers, recommended lettuce for "Monkes, Nunnes and the like of people ... to keep them chase"  Poor Nunnes:  lettuce on its own is not much of a diet.  Like pastry, it is a background for livelier ingredients such as walnut oil, olives, hard-boiled eggs and anchovies or bacon and blue cheese.

Surprisingly, as you can see from the picture my lettuce have survived relatively unscathed.  I have it growing in the ground and in containers, far more than I can actually use, it has burgeoned during this wet spell and hardly any sign of slug damage.  Hooray!

I will leave the rest of the crops for another post as this one is already rather lengthy - needless to say,  progress is slow but gradually getting there.

Greenhouse strawberries
(All quotes are from Anna Pavords' The New Kitchen Garden)

40 comments:

  1. I feel the same as you about my own veg patch's progress but when you look at things individually, like in your post, you can see that it's not that bad. On the contrary I think your veg looks like it's doing really good!

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    1. It seems ages since you did a post about your allotment I'd like to see how yours is progressing. A bit of warmer weather would make all the difference.

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  2. Hope you had a good holiday, Elaine. Your garden doesn't seem to have suffered whilst you've been away. Your legumes are looking great. My peas have never really got going and my French beans and mangetout have been ravaged by slugs. Time to re plant I think.

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    1. Yes I had a great holiday thanks - I won't say it's nice to be back because we had much better weather in Norfolk - so it's back to the grind. Good luck with your re-planting.

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  3. Compared with most people's veg plots, yours is absolutely A1, and it looks as if you have some lovely stuff growing there. A bit of sunshine would be very welcome though.
    I'm intrigued by the 3000-year-old peas. That is certainly well past the normal Sell By date!

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    1. I don't suppose the veg garden is doing too bad really - but it could be a lot better (never satisfied, me). I wonder if those peas would germinate - that would be interesting!

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  4. What a magnificent veggie garden. You must be so pleased with the results so far.
    I can imagine your meals in the evening, a plate full of produce from your garden....wonderful.

    I am glad it rained whilst you enjoyed your holiday....there is nothing worse than coming home and finding everything shrivelled.

    I planted our some lovely strawbetty plants a few weeks ago and the rabbits cropped the lot....sigh.
    They are re-growing so I live in hope that I may have some strawberries at some point.

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    1. The peas seem to be doing okay but everything else is a bit disappointing really - but I suppose everyone else is going through the same problems. I am sorry the rabbits got to your 'strawbetties' is that a new variety - hee hee.

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  5. What a magnificent sight the parsnip is Elaine, wow. Your lettuce look so good. I have vegetable growing envy!

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    1. The parsnip has practically turned into a tree hope I can manage to save the seed from it successfully. No one is more surprised than me that the lettuces remain untouched by slugs - I shall have to make sure I remain vigilant and on 'slugwatch'.

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  6. Hi Elaine-veggies are looking great compared to some I’ve seen and I love your little historical notes!

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    1. I think we veggie gardeners always hope for bigger and better - as long as I get a harvest at the end of it I will be happy.

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  7. Hi Elaine. You're well on top of things.

    I sowed my own saved parsnip seed this year (and some commercial seed). I've now resown twice!!! Hrmph

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    1. I will be interested to see how your saved seed works out. From the size of my plant I should be able to keep the whole world in parsnip seed.

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  8. I think I would have liked John Parkinson. And your strawberries look beautiful

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    1. They taste pretty good too Mary - I only hope my outdoor strawberries are as productive.

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  9. I can only grow flowers in my garden but I do grow garlic,salad stuff and herbs .Your post is really informative and shows the timeless harmony of growing things for food.Food .cooking and growing is part of what makes a sane civilation.I have had 3 glasses of red wine so feel rather philosophical!

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    1. I know what you mean Angela - growing your own food seems a very natural and deep-seated desire - must be something to do with an instinct for survival - I'm getting philosopical now and I haven't even had a drink.

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  10. I love your veggie patch, they all look so green and healthy and you're a woman after my own heart as I enjoy adding a bit of history. Especially like the reference to Juvenal as well as Troy. I studied the classics as part of my current degree course. The quotes go so well with your veggie piccies. Patricia

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    1. Thanks Patricia - even the common veggies have an interesting history - something I enjoy researching when I'm writing posts. The trouble is I can never remember who said what!

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  11. Hi Elaine, It looks like you're having GREAT progress to me! I enjoyed the lovely tour of your Green Goddess garden. :-) The lettuce looks great. I enjoyed the history on it; lettuce is a perfect background for livelier ingredients for me too. :-) The strawberries look like they're coming along quite well too. Happy gardening!

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    1. Hi Beth - Green Goddess would be a great name for a blog wouldn't it - the lettuce looks lovely and tastes fresh and crisp too - better than a bag of soggy leaves from the supermarket any day.

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  12. It's all looking good. I had my first crop of Courgettes yesterday. Everything is going crazy here this year.

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    1. Goodness - you are way ahead of me - my courgettes are practically the same size as when I planted them - we badly need some sun to get them romping away.

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  13. Your vegetables seem to be ticking along well . Our are behind yours but at least the celery must be getting all the moisture it needs.

    I never look forward to weeding onions as it's so easy to break th leaves. Good Luck

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    1. I didn't plant many celery plants as they usually get slugged to death - if they survive it will be a first.

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  14. Wow,Elaine....all your veggies seem to have done well while you were away. Lovely green,fresh lettuce too. My courgettes are only starting to flower here too, but I do see babies ;)
    Happy Harvesting!

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    1. I'm surprised they survived - all the wet weather we have had have brought the slugs out in force - fingers crossed - so far so good.

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  15. We're all having plenty of problems this year but you seem to be faring better than many of us!
    That parsnip is impressive, and my strawberries are still white. Flighty xx

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    1. My outdoor strawberries are nowhere near ready yet - hooray for my greenhouse ones.

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  16. Turn your back for 5 mins on the garden / veg plot and it all goes mad! Great to see your hard work paying off.
    Looking forward to the next installment x

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    1. I'm struggling to keep on top of all the weeds at the moment they have run riot whilst we have been away - tut!

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  17. Your progress looks much better than mine! I feel like my veg are stunted! Will get there eventually :)

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    1. I don't think the strange weather has helped Kelli - hopefully we will get a few meals out of all the hard work we put in.

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  18. love the little quotes...
    and yes there is something perfectly right about growing and cooking your own food...
    lovely post

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    1. It is something I have been doing all my adult life - it would seem strange now to have to buy all my veg - I hope to be able to keep doing it whilst I am fit and able.

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  19. Looks like everything is doing well. Finger's crossed for some sun now! P.S I tend to only show the tidy bits on my blog. The rest of the garden leaves a lot to be desired! :)

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    1. I don't believe a word of it your garden always looks lovely. Mine however, in some parts, is a disgrace - but we won't go into that.

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  20. Your veggies look excellent, whatever the weather has been like in your area. I've hardly been down to my plots for 3 weeks (various excuses, but mainly bad weather), hence the lack of posts on my blog. Really frustrating!!

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    1. We're all in the same boat I reckon - I have managed to do the odd half hour here and there - I agree about it being frustrating - two years are never the same when you're a gardener.

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