OUR GARDEN IN SUMMER

I wrote about what our garden looked like last year here. It's amazing how much things can grow over just one year. Our apricot tree is this year twice the size, having made it to the top of the wall. Although either due to such a cold winter and spring we don't seem to have any fruit on it this time. Perhaps it needs a good prune to put it's energy into a smaller but fruit producing tree. Such a pity as the fruit we got last year was amazing....oh well, there is always next year. This year we (when I say we I really mean my husband Ben. HE is the true green fingered one out of us!) have growing Mange Tout, Tomatoes, Sweetcorn, Beetroot, Radish, Spring Onions, Raspberries, Strawberries, Blackberries, Carrots, Cavelo Nero Kale, Squash, Cucumber and lots of Salad and herbs. Quite a lot to keep an eye on and keep pesky slugs snails, pigeons and little beetle bugs at bay!

side of our shed

the rose that weaves its way through our apple tree

Stanley is really enjoying the garden this year. He has been out planting up seeds with Ben and helping to water with his little yellow can. He is loving the hose too, and as we have no hose pipe ban this year we can indulge him a little. Although not to much as we are on a meter! As we wash in green people stuff we can save his bath water and the washing up water to use in this amazing and unusually dry spell we are having! Stanley loves picking things washing them under the water butt taps and putting them straight into his mouth. His favourites are the raspberries and radishes. That boy has some odd flavour combos...

Our first beetroot

helping to pick mange tout

mange tout flowers // squash just beginning to grow

The green roof experiment was such a success last year with the most ridiculous crop of tomatoes that we are repeating it again this year. Might as well make use of that sunbaked garage roof and do something useful with it.... This year we have two types of tomato - those amazing spanish style knarly ones and the little cherry toms. We will see how they get on. We also have some squash up there too, happy sprawling along the length. I will keep you posted hopefully with a crop update later on in the Summer.

What are your fail safe crops? Do you always grow the same things? And what are you favourite things to do with a glut of something?!

GARDEN UPDATE

The garden is coming along pretty well. Despite all the rain that started to hold off ripening of apricot fruits, tomatoes and squash, the recent hot spell seems to have put right some of the wrong and all seems better. Perhaps we will have more success in the end than we thought. The only real problem is the slugs. Seriously they are HUGE! The wet humid weather has produced some sort of slug beasts I think at least double the size of what must be considered normal! I'm hearing rumours that due to the naff British weather, people at Summer Village Fete's are having a 'size of your slug' entry next to all the normal vegetable and fruit entries...wouldn't that be an idea! I'm just sure we would win that.....

Spotlight on the mange tout

Looking back down the garden in the evening sunshine

Our vegetable plot

Roof garden with squahes and tomatoes

Vegetable plot from above & little helper in the shed

First of the tomato crop & our first apricots from our tree!

The roof garden has been such a success that Ben is going to improve on it for next year. Our garden faces east, and although we do get some lovely morning sun flooding in, we really need south or west facing to get more sunshine. However the roof garden is baked in lovely sunshine not shaded by other houses or apple trees and the like, so the tomatoes have been very happy up there, and a little harder for the slugs to get at! Stanley has been enjoying the garden too. Helping to plant seeds and weed etc. I think next year he will really love it, when he starts to understand what he planted a few weeks ago has now popped up, and will soon turn into food for him! Roll on next Summer...

4 days left on the giveaway!

{little} GREEN FINGERS

So I came out into the garden the other day to find this stripy pair hanging out in the man's area that is the shed. Stanley was having a whale of a time helping his Daddy with his planting tasks. It is really nice to see him enjoying the things Ben likes to do. I am hoping we have a budding gardener in the making. If only he didn't mind getting his hands a bit dirtier though...I think he is too little for a pair of gardening gloves, surely?!

Things have been going ok on the growing front despite the very wet summer. We've had tonnes of salad leaves, we like this mix. The spinach is always prolific and quite hardy to the slugs - but the best thing this year has been the purple mange tout. So pretty to grow with the loveliest little lilac flowers. Plus super easy to spot the ready mange tout as that amazing purple stands out so well against the green plant. If you've never grown it before i'd recommend! We just have to be patient now for the tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries and the apricots....fingers crossed the sun comes out to help us and them.

Do you grow your own? If so any recommendations as to what works for you. Especially those growing in this crazy british summer!

♥ S & s