When I see the state of my veg plot - I think I probably am. I cannot seem to keep on top of everything. If I were to show you pictures of my plot as it is right now - you would cover your eyes and run away screaming. For all you 'neatists' out there - those of you who expect nothing less than perfection - you would be horrified at the state it is in.
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First broad beans of the season
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During this hot weather my time has been taken up with watering and harvesting with no time left for weeding. The plot went bananas whilst we were away on holiday, the sun and rain being perfect conditions for everything to run riot.
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Six cucumbers developed quickly - all at the
same time and all the same size |
Yet, even though the plot is semi-wild I am still getting good harvests. Last Sunday I picked five heads of broccoli - it never ceases to thrill me when I see something ready to pick that I hadn't spotted the day before - one day no broc, the next it is ready for picking.
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We had this with cheese sauce and roast gammon, freshly
picked that morning - so tender and tasty |
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| surplus strawberries in sugar ready for making into conserve |
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| runner beans in large pot |
Would the harvest have been better 'sans' weeds - maybe, who can say. I won't be posting any pictures just yet though until I get it a bit more under control. I will show you my jumble of a container garden which is going great guns too.
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purple tee pee french beans
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| Tomatillo |
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| Curly kale |
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| Romesco cauliflower in raised bed edged with Echium |
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| container courgette plant - courgettes just starting to form |
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Outdoor tomatoes
I am doing the best that I can, but with it being so hot my gardening time has been restricted to early morning and late evening - although I love this summer weather I tend to wilt like a lettuce in the heat. It has been a little cooler today so I have been making up for lost time. Can't stop, just off to get everything watered.
Hope you are all enjoying this lovely weather
after all we have been waiting for it
for a long, long time.
Are you managing to keep on top of all the weeding and watering?
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Eileen I am so envious of your productive garden! My cucumber is five leaves and a flower! At this rate I may have a harvest in October. It's lovely to see your fruit and veg flourishing so well. Chel x
ReplyDeleteI usually get stem rot on my cucumbers so I grew more than I needed just in case - and guess what, no stem rot this year - I'm going to be inundated with cukes. I braised some this evening to have with a summer chicken casserole.
DeleteI start off the season being neatist. It lasts about a month if I am lucky. Today I've been trying to exert a little bit of control too. Spinach is running amok. It's about a metre high. Is it really supposed to be that big? I have been trying to rein it in with the link stakes I use in the flower borders.
ReplyDeleteBut I have got cucumbers and the tomatoes are showing just a hint of red. Even the outdoor ones are doing OK this year. Glut of mange tout, but no broccoli yet.
Before we went away there were hardly any weeds - they just seem to have appeared all at once and the wildflowers I planted last year have gone berserk. It does look pretty though.
DeleteEmphatically no, you're not a terrible gardener. It's the fanatics/obsessives who are usually retired, or don't work, who can spend all hours every day plotting that are generally the 'neatists'. Sure a neat vegetable patch looks good but it's the quality and taste of what you grow and harvest that really counts. Always enjoy what you do rather than doing the best that you can do. Remember you do it for you not them.
ReplyDeleteOne point that I would make is that a semi-wild vegetable is certainly better for wildlife and probably for what you grow.
All you've shown certainly looks really good, and I'm sure that you must be well pleased.
Happy gardening, Flighty xx
PS - Like you I wilt in this weather so I've just spent a couple hours first thing watering and weeding on my plot visits.
Thanks Flighty - a very re-assuring comment.
DeleteAbsolutely Horrid! I am green with envy and can only dream of that success and look in my garden. Its a garden, not a living room! I believe it needs to keep a sense of natural balance. A light touch of order balanced with more natural chaos.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for visiting. You are right of course, it's just that when I see pics of other people's veg gardens in such pristine condition I begin to doubt my ability as a gardener.
DeleteIt's not about the neatness of your plot but the produce you achieve from it and you appear to be getting a darned healthy crop. Don't worry about how neat and tidy it all is just enjoy it - advice I could do with following myself as i too worry about keeping on top of those weeds.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. I don't like doing housework indoors so I suppose it follows that I don't like doing it outdoors either, it's all a matter of pride I guess.
DeleteI think your photos answer your question. Absolutely not - you are like all of us a gardener who has to prioritise and harvesting and keeping crops growing by far outweighs the weeding and tidying.
ReplyDeleteBy the way we're retired but not fanatical neatest and don't spend every hour of the day on the plot - honestly :)
If my plot was as big as what you have to cope with I would probably be suicidal by now :O
DeleteNeatness isn't everything - your plants look good and healthy, and you're getting good harvests. If you're enjoying the garden, then you are a great gardener - sometimes you just have to do the best you can, and not worry about minor details like weeds and the odd bit of slug damage.
ReplyDeleteI shall just have to wait till a harvest is finished then clear each patch in turn
DeleteWeeds or not, it's all looking very productive; and that's the point. I try to keep mine weed-free simply because it can get out of hand and the work load later on becomes dire.
ReplyDeleteWe've had the same broccoli crop, and it was wonderful. It's amazing how quickly it matures!
The secondary spears are already starting to form now I've removed the head - broc just keeps on giving.
DeleteEverything seems to have grown really well this year, including weeds! As long as they're not seeding everywhere I wouldn't worry :)
ReplyDeleteI'm past worrying Debbie - just concentrating on the important things.
DeleteYou have cucumbers all the same size at the same time? You will have the supermarkets after you soon to provide produce for them! You are clearly a superb gardener - if you had tidy borders and no time to water, feed, preserve and enjoy your produce, what kind of gardener would you be? I think you have your priorities absolutely right.
ReplyDeleteHa ha - if only.
DeleteAll I can say is that I'd put bets on that your plot is less weedy than mine. Gardening has taken a back seat for me just lately as other family matters have taken precedence. It will take some effort to get it all back in to shape, but I'm sure we'll get there eventually. I think the main thing is that we're still both managing to get harvests, so having a weedy plot can't be all that bad.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteI am so glad to hear that I am not the only one with a garden a bit out of control. We have had so much rain that everything is huge including the weeds!
ReplyDeleteWe are just the opposite no rain at all for a couple of weeks the ground is rock hard.
DeleteElaine, we're in the same situation weed wise but at least you got round to planting lots of veg! I'm watering just once a day as I need a friend to lower a hosepipe from her 4th floor bathroom window and am hoping for lots more warm weather so that I can get some late planted veg on the go! Your garden looks fantastic to me - love that pic of cauli and echium, a lovely colour combination!
ReplyDeleteWatering is such a chore at this time of year, particularly in your circumstances, just pray your friend doesn't move, or you will be in trouble.
DeleteNo way are you a terrible gardener. Your blog posts and pictures show that you are a very good gardener. It's true that harvesting and watering are time consuming and other jobs such as weeding take a back seat. My plots look untidy this year but by the end of the Autumn most weeds will have died back and the grass may not need cutting. There's always tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI think your definition of untidy and mine are a bit different, your plots always look immaculate.
DeleteAnyone who can grow broccoli like this has to be a superb gardener!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Alain - I'm not sure about the 'superb' bit but I do alright.
DeleteThe weeding gets away from me every year, I always start off with such good intentions. Yet I usually find the area with the most ground cover of weeds actually do the best, I guess there is less evaporation from the soil of available moisture and as long as the veggies have a head start they still do well.
ReplyDeleteLove the cucumbers all lined up neatly :-)
Your garden looks quite lovely, I don't see any weeds at all! Weeding is always out of control at my place but what I really worry about is the gaps/ crowding in my garden. No matter how I try each year to plan there are always seeds that didn't sprout leaving wide open spaces and then squash that run amok and take over everybody elses space plus their own. I can't win.
ReplyDelete