Harvesting begins

Now for the best bit...

We are getting to that point in summer where the garden starts paying us back for all the sowing, weeding, watering and tending…produce! Already we have used up all the broad beans and kohl rabi with the neighbours benefiting from a glut as well, now the cucumbers are coming thick and fast and as mentioned last time, the strawberry plants have been very generous. More goodies are to come, the potatoes are in flower, greyhound cabbages are nearly ready and the plum tomatoes have begun to turn from green to yellow.

After a slow start, the courgettes are starting to produce too, we planted them out a bit early I think, they just sat there for a while doing nothing so we did wonder if they were duds, but no, patience is a virtue!

I love this time of year in the vegetable patch, the recent rain has made the weeds grow like triphids but aside from looking a bit messy (we don't care about that) everything is doing great. One of the plants that we always enjoy is nasturtium - both the leaves and flowers are edible and add a wonderful heat and peppery flavour to salads, and they look beautiful to boot.

So we are doing well and very much looking forward to the next batch of goodies although I need to make room in the freezer for (hopefully) lots of tomato-based sauces and runner beans.

After pulling up the garlic which is drying in the shed, we planted out the Cavolo Nero kale and Romanesque cauliflower at the weekend, crops for autumn and winter along with the purple-sprouting broccoli, it is so reassuring to know there will be something fresh in the garden for most of the year!

Oh, and I nearly forgot…the black grapes in the small greenhouse are amazing so far, the best we have ever seen, I counted 21 bunches which are swelling and heavy…Outdoors and Old Ways wine maybe?!

I hope you are enjoying the summer so far, and that your garden adventures are as rewarding as ours.