A little different

We do like to experiment with things in the garden and try out new ideas.

In the past, amongst others, we have made a knot garden from Loniceria Nitida cuttings.

We also made a thyme clock, using different varieties of thyme for each hour.

A few years ago we grew some more exotic vegetables with the help of ideas from Garden Organic (www.gardenorganic.org.uk/) including Calaloo (a spinach type plant), chickpeas, sharks fin melon, Achocha, and yard long bean.

We still grow the Achocha each year, both the original Ladies slipper and another variety Fat Baby. Lovely little crunch in a salad, or a stir fry. Very prolific and smothered in hoverflies and other pollinators on the minute flowers.

This year we have tried a few more new things Edamame beans, Watermelon and Loofa.

The Loofa has reached the roof of the greenhouse and is now running horizontally along but no fruits have stayed yet so may need more research.

The Edamame beans and watermelon are successful and this years figs are the best ever.

Busy Harvest

From July onwards we are busy harvesting produce from the garden. The soft fruit has been very good this year, the later variety of red currant (sorry do not know which variety as they were in the garden when we moved) is providing a lot of fruit this year and the “strings” are very long. White currants have also been excellent and so sweet but are coming to an end now.

Summer raspberries and Logan berries provided plenty of fruit, over now but autumn raspberries are ready to take over. I like the autumn raspberries best and their care is much easier.

Summer raspberries fruit on old wood so at this time of year the new growth which will fruit next year has already grown. You have to cut out the old stems which fruited this year, and then tie the new canes onto the wire supports. The autumn raspberries are much easier, they fruit on the current years growth so maintenance just involves cutting the old canes down to the ground in the spring just before new growth appears, then new canes will grow up and fruit that year.

Success with peaches this year as a result of a cover to protect buds from winter rains with results in Peach Leaf Curl which defoliates the tree and weakens it. Also I went round with a paint brush to assist pollination when the blossom was out. The result, 9 large sweet white peaches, a good haul since the “tree” only has 2 branches.

Other more unusual crops harvested the past few weeks are purple graffiti cauliflower, inca berries, Achocha: ladies slipper and fat baby, artichoke, florence fennel, calabrese, baby spinach, figs and Edameme.

Edamame

A great selection of fruit and veg