Exciting I know.
It’s still so wet that the weeds have taken over and there’s little point digging since it’s three times the effort for a quarter of the result. The tomato patch that I hoed last of all is almost completely weeds. Oh well.
So, no cherries to speak of, and it looks like being a poor year for red onions (gone to seed) and ratatouille veg, but a brilliant year for potatoes, peas, beans, carrots and cabbages. Oh well to that as well.
I like to take photos of the season as it unravels and I’ve been using picmonkey for that… I have ‘plot-to-almost=pot’ photos. It’s been the broad beans today. I’ve picked about 4 kg of broad beans so far. Of course, most is pod, so in terms of actual weight, I’ve got about 2 kg of broad beans blanched and frozen.
I think this is my favourite app. So quick! Upload the photos you want in it and the layout and boom – a collage. No photoshop messing.
I planted these on the fourth of January. It then snowed and flooded and rained and was cold – so it’s been one hundred and sixty five days from bean to bean. Not bad though. I’m quite amazed by how quickly they come on. It never fails to amaze me that something can be a seed one day and a plant the next. The first leaves came up two months after planting – most of that time was very cold indeed. Two months after that, we had flowers. That’s 4th January planting, 4th March first leaves, 4th May flowers, then a month later, we had a huge crop. To be honest, I could have planted them a whole lot later, I think. Trouble is, you can’t predict having a month of bitterly cold temperatures.
Speaking of things that are seeds one day and plants the next, I planted a lemon pip (well, four, but only one has come to anything) which is now bursting with life. As to whether it will have lemons ever, I don’t know. It’s got lovely foliage though, so I won’t be upset if it doesn’t.
And because I have no cherries, but because I love this picmonkey app (and you can have it pretty much any which way you want it) I thought I’d do a cherry-inspired one from last year.
I was saying yesterday I felt a bit like I should just write the year off and go back to bed until next summer. Of course, I won’t. There are far too many things in the garden to enjoy quand-même.
Lady Justine's Blog 
My father warned me not to plant the peas and BBs too early as they are prone to rotting in the ground if you have a wet spell before they germinate. I leave everything here until March – but that means my BBs aren’t quite ready to pick yet. Peas and mangetout are giving nicely though. They like the cool. Lettuce like the cool too, but we’ve had enough hot dry spells that the little blighters have shot to seed anyway.
I think I might follow suit on that advice – I know some people plant them out in November, but it made very little difference between those I planted in January and those I added later in March. The pak choi have gone to seed before they even started and half my lettuce haven’t got off the ground. Oh well. I suspect it will be a good carrot and beetroot year too… I’ll take whatever I’m given!
Try sowing the pak choi again, after the longest day. That helps control their urge to seed.
I will. You’re a mine of information. I could do with you on permanent standby.
I like how you arranged the photos with pickmonkey.
picmonkey is fabulous isn’t it?
Hey you … how ya bean?! Haha, sorry couldn’t resist. How I love beans. My mom used to laugh when I was little my favourite snack was steamed Lima beans! Your broad beans look like they will be very tasty in deed.
Loulou
🙂 Even though it was a little cheesy, it still made me smile. I love beans too… beans and chocolate. Not together. Unfortunately, I can’t grow chocolate
Our cherries are bad too this year, but I did manage to pick some today (and ate them before getting as far as the kitchen). With all the wet watch out for blight on potatoes, ours are OK so far, but I have heard of friends nearby with problems and all this wet is perfect for blight!
I’ve been keeping an eye out. Last year’s potatoes were very poor – too dry after I’d planted them. The top growth looks fantastic this year though.