picked this week

exciting times in the garden!!

the first peas.....








the first strawberries... alpine ones and a little 'pippy' but tasting wonderful







and






almost full-sized lettuce

picked this week

a bit of variety along with the normal salad leaves and radishes this week - we've started lifting some of the garlic. It's very early but the tops were drying and turning brown with the lack of water lately, and I needed the space as a seed bed for winter cabbage.

weeds - again!

More in the 'weird weeds' category.



The greenhouse has been moved into a spot where potatoes have been grown for the past couple of years - looks like we didn't lift them all as they're growing again!




Also, springing up in the greenhouse, I've found several tomato seedlings and a pumpkin.

May Flowers

This is the time of year when the garden looks fullest and most colourful. I have lots of perennials in the flower beds as they bloom year after year with minimal effort on my part, and most of them flower about May/June time.

















There are delicate drooping solomon's seals, bright brashy oriental poppies, irises, peonies and frothy london pride.






Unfortunately, after a hot dry April, May has turned showery and cool. The rain is undoubtedly needed but I wish I could sit outside more and enjoy the flowers.

picked this week

clearing some more ground at the allotment and found this mix of leeks, garlic and some that we weren't quite sure about.







thinnings from the first of our real lettuce (rather than baby leaves)








plenty of radishes to go with the lettuce


more rhubarb, which is growing again with this week's rain.

aquilegias

Starting many years ago with a small number of pale-flowered ones, I now have a garden full of aquilegias in many colours. They're all self-set - some in the flower beds but many spring up in the veg patch and have to be moved.
Favourite colour this year is the plum/maroon

the last of.....

cut into the last of our pumpkins for last night's dinner
- thankfully, no seeds sprouting inside this one!

...and just used up the last of the previous allotment tenant's beetroot.
Hoping ours will grow as well this year.

picked this week

Guess what?? Radishes again!!
some rhubarb, though it's rather floppy due to lack of rain
some early purple sprouting broccoli
and
salad leaves - mainly rocket

Weather

A bit of panic here on Tuesday evening as the weathermen were predicting a ground frost. Dashed round everything, covering with fleece or propagator lids - even inside the greenhouse. Not sure if we really needed to but with tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and beans getting quite large, it seemed better to be safe than sorry.
Haven't had rain for several weeks - slight drizzle about the beginning of April was the last. Everywhere has been dry and dusty. Rhubarb flopping over with lack of water. Seedlings needing to be watered twice a day. A change at last this weekend - lots of rain, followed by sunshine and everywhere now looking much healthier.

weeds

All the usual weed suspects have grown again in the veg patch -

foxgloves, feverfew and welsh poppies -
most of which will be moved to the flower garden

the little forest of sycamore seedlings is just destined for the compost heap though!

We always have masses of 'helicopter' seeds spinning down in Autumn from the parent tree just outside the back fence but not normally this number of seedlings!

Blossom

Back from a short break to find all the later-flowering trees covered n blossom - rowan, lilacs and laburnum

picked this week

After a week's holiday - returning to an empty fridge - I felt very lucky to be able to lift radish and salad leaves straight from the garden for lunch!

Also picked - early purple sprouting broccoli - still only from one plant though I'm hoping 2 others will crop soon - and running-to-seed brussels

and another handful of radish from the allotment