Orange and purple

 Sometimes the garden accidentally turns out to be colour-themed - and this month it just seems full of orange (montbretia, marigolds, day lilies) and purple (clematis, buddleia, platycodon, lavender, oregano), with a couple of splashes of pink from fuchsias and hydrangeas

Picked this week - 30th March 2014

A trip to the allotment early in the week saw me bringing home spinach and brussels sprouts tops - both of which ended up in salads - and more snippets of broccoli.

There's been lots in the way of salad leaves to pull from the garden and greenhouse - american land cress, rocket and self set lamb's lettuce outside and baby red lettuce inside - and chives,lemon balm and oregano for salad dressings.

Picked this week - and a gift 23rd March 2014

It's starting to feel a bit like Spring with chives, oregano and lemon balm ready to be picked.

and another heap of spinach

These have all continued growing over winter - spring onions, rather woody radish and some surprise potatoes found while weeding at the allotment

Still going strong with the brussel bits

and broccoli, although now it looks more like the sprouting variety than the 'headed'










three nice leeks

and, just as we're nearing the end of our apples, a few from my parents' neighbour.

Butterflies and Bees

In the sunny spells between the rain, the garden seems to be full of butterflies and bees - particularly round the lavender and oregano.

Weeds

Just been weeding on a sunny afternoon and now have a vase of them for the table!

picked this week

actually a real amount of produce this week - two batches of rhubarb for muffins

two batches of radishes from the allotment - our first own-sown crop!!

more bursting brussels bits and leaves

chives, rocket and small spinach/lettuce for salad

and oregano, lemon balm and thyme for the dressing

picked this week

starting to get a few more bits and pieces from the garden -
a mixed batch of salad leaves - lettuce, two types of rocket, spinach, chives, lemon balm and oregano.









'mock broccoli' or, as it's more commonly known, bits of brussels running to seed.

weeds?

have the usual crop of self-seeded flowers growing in the veg patch

love in a mist by the cabbages

welsh poppies sneaking in between the onions

but also some new-comers this year

lobelia under the patio table - has to be self-set from over wintered seed as I haven't grown any this year.

chard among the leeks - either self set from last year's chard or some of last year's seed which didn't germinate then

wild rocket - self set on the opposite side of the path

alpine strawberries - growing and fruiting all on its own

oregano - tried for years to get marjoram to grow without success. last year I was given a packet of greek oregano - this grew much better, survived the cold winter and has sent up seedlings all over the garden

we grew potatoes last year in amongst the runner beans - obviously we didn't lift all of them!

these lavender seedlings have been growing for years in a window box, just above a couple of lavender plants. at first I thought they were another herb I'd sown and forgotten but now they're larger the scent is more obvious. waiting to see their flowers as the two plants nearby are different types of lavender.