Monday 16 July 2012

Inspite of the weather.....

            I am glad and grateful to say that things are happening in the garden, ok so maybe a little later than they should in some cases  but who am I to complain?

Got a great surprise over the weekend when I noticed that the pumpkin was flowering, alot.


Lots of male flowers again and .....

the long awaited female flower. This morning I realised that a second female flower had appeared almost from nowhere. Just hoping some lovely insects managed to dodge the rain and pollinate the flower.  So, barring snails, squirrel attack and human error (getting stood on) we should have two pumpkins. Yay!


The Sungold tomatoes are really ripening nicely. I have absolutely loads of tomatoes, some of which I want to stay green for chutney which I'm really looking forward to making in another couple of weeks.


Everyday, more and more of the blueberries are ripening. I have to say that I was sceptical about growing blueberries because quite simply I don't like them. It was Dave's suggestion to get the bush and I let him pick out the plant because I was pretty un enthused. So, now they finally start to ripen I figure I should taste one and they are great! Blueberries I have bought from tescos have very little flavour and a weird texture but the ones from the garden are just full of flavour and are so juicy. I'm now thinking we may have to invest in a second bush.
So, our first time growing blueberries, I'm just beginning to figure out when to pick them. If they have a green bottom (like the ones in the photo), they are not quite there and a little sharp (still nice though). I've picked quite a few of these, for research purposes of course. Today I realised that the blueberries I had left to go dark blue all over (no green bottom) were sweeter. So now I know.
As they are ripening a handful at a time I'm freezing them.

Pop them on a tray and freeze them.

Then pop them in a bag and back in the freezer, this way they
 won't freeze in a clump and we can take what we need.






Much to my relief, the aubergine flowers are getting bigger. I have cut away the smaller flowers and trimmed alot of the leaves, leaving two flowers per plant in the hope that all the growing energy will go into these four flowers. Still keeping my fingers crossed.

Looking ahead to next season so I sat down and organised my seeds. Now, I am not big on organisational skills and my seeds have all been crammed into a small box which I would have to empty out in order to root around and find a particular packet. All very annoying. So I got a very cheap food container and sat down for half and hour. The system I came up with is simple but will work for me.




Now I can plan what seeds I might order in the future without worrying about duplicates. This is progress for me, last year I left a load of seeds in the grow house and they got ravaged by snails and mice. Not smart!


And finally, I thought I would include a picture of our cat Immy (Imogen, she's a rescue cat and that was the name she was given). I stood and watched her sitting nonchalantly at the open back door, watching my nemesis the squirrel as he scrabbled around in the garden just a few feet away. For what is normally a very territorial creature, she did nothing!  A great help she is! We should have got a dog.

x

6 comments:

  1. My seeds are scattered through out the house, i like the envelope idea.

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  2. You'll be really lucky if you get an aubergine this year!
    I keep my seeds in an old biscuit tin, along with a list of what there is, etc. That does me.
    I like Immy's expression! Flighty xx

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  3. I doubt I'll get any aubergine, but I figure if you keep your expectations low you may get a pleasant surprise. X

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  4. You'll get a lot of harvest. Maybe your cat is on a vacation...

    Satu from Finland (a dogowner ;O))

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Satu and welcome. Cat is on permanent vacation. x

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