Picked this week - 9th February 2014

There's a lot of brassicas in various guises this week.

 Two tiny cabbages that weren't going to grow any more. Barely enough for one person on either though.






A heap of brussels sprouts, some a bit too open but edible even so.

Lots of kale - probably more than we'll eat - and tiny broccoli spears

A bit more unusual - red kale which was grown last year as an early salad leaf in the poly greenhouse and just somehow got left there.
Spinach off course - a bit dirty and nibbled so careful picking through needed.

Another winter staple - leeks, again.

and various radishes - these are from a B+Q cheap packet labelled 'mixed radish' and they certainly are, but I'm still glad to have fresh radish at this time of year. As a general rule, the whiter they are, the hotter they taste.

and these rather fat and weird radish were found in the garden while I was weeding and clearing. I new there were lots of tops and leaves but never expected to find radish when I pulled them up.

New Year's Day 2014 - January in the garden

 New Year's Day was damp and miserable but the garden is looking oddly Spring-like.








Lots of polyanthus in flower

winter jasmine, of course

and rosemary









but I was surprised to find love in a mist, although a bit straggly








and a struggling oriental poppy. I'm hoping a bit of sunshine will see this flower soon before any hard frosts hit it.

 There are even signs of snowdrops and daffodils peeking through last year's dead sticks


















 and the forsythia looks ready to burst into flower anytime soon













the outdoor cyclamen's didn't flower but they are definitely still alive so maybe next year ...

In the veg patch I have cabbages, both large and small

 but the idea of having decorative red and green kale among the flower-beds doesn't seem to have really worked.

 and some Spring onions to look forward to.

July in the garden - fruit and veg

 First strawberries and redcurrants ripening now

 apples swelling











and - this is very exciting - the grapes

dwarf borlotto beans are forcing their way through the earlier sowing of salad leaves

tomatoes are setting

I even have some growing in a hanging basket!

there's a couple of cabbages - which are supposed to be winter crops but look a bit early for that

the red kale that I thought would look attractive among the flowers is being eaten away by slugs and snails

but the red cabbage is looking ok