July 2017 in pictures

Golden sweet mange tout. Very pretty mauve flowers, yellow pods and delicious but not very prolific. I'm not sure it's worth growing them again in any quantity.

Flowers and bulbils on Babington's leek. Nice garlicky flavour. I used some in cooking and kept some bulbils for growing on. 

Monster purple sprouting broccoli. This beast stood at 3ft 6in. The others around it were a normal 2ft max and had long finished sprouting. This one had only just started. It lasted another month and would have probably gone on for at least another year had it not been so shallowly rooted. A few blustery winds and it started to keel over and eventually I had to remove it. But it died give us plenty of broccoli spears and leaves before its demise. 

The start of our garlic harvest. I did label the three varieties that I planted but when it came to harvest the labels had disappeared! So I have no idea what is what. I'm not sure it really matters as I will use the cloves from the best specimens for replanting this autumn.

First of this year's cucumbers

Potatoes, Golden Sweet peas and first of the runner beans

Cherry plums

Grapes forming

Gorgeous colours on this monster that landed on a grapevine leaf. It was one inch long and buzzing loudly. I thought it was hornet of some sort but it is a hoverfly - the Hornet Mimic Hoverfly also known as the Belted Hoverfly, Volucella zonaria. Harmless.

Rudbeckia adding a splash of colour

Cinnabar moth caterpillars munching on ragwort.

The temperature may be in the 30s but Ms Moggychops
has found a cool, shady spot in the garden

May 2017 in pictures

Really pleased to see that the pear blossom and fertilised flowers survived/missed the frosts. It looks as though we shall have at least a dozen pears this year, up from last year's single fruit that survived.

A typical Sunday Lunch for this time of the year. Starting at the top and working around the plate clockwise: steak and ale pie from Reading Farmers' Market; pea shoots (kitchen window sill); stuffed purple sprouting broccoli leaf (garden) stuffed with risotto; purple sprouting broccoli (garden); carrots (Reading Farmers' Market); potatoes (supermarket); various brassica leaves (garden).





Typical daily veg collection for May and on this occasion the veg was for a shared meal at a meeting and AGM of Transition Town Reading (TTR). Includes swiss chard, purple sprouting broccoli, onions, cavolo nero, various kales and oregano.

And this is what I made for the TTR AGM: winter/spring vegetable quiche, spicy vegetable and chickpea flour muffins, and sprouting broccoli leaves stuffed with vegetable risotto.

At the front of the house, the new(ish) rosemary bush is now well established and liking the hot dry environment. The surplus garlic cloves that I planted as an experiment are also doing well. 

Some of the runner bean seedlings that were started off under cover. Having been caught out with late frosts in previous years these will not be planted out until late May or the beginning of June.








I bought some interesting varieties of tomatoes and chillies from Homecrafts in Caversham, and was forced to use the bath as a "waiting room" for them a while. Tomatoes were Brandywine (pink beefsteak variety), Principe Borghese (red egg/plum shaped fruit)  and Costoluto Fiorentino (red beefsteak).

Although there is a lot just beginning to grow some of the crops are finishing. Last year's planting of swiss chard is now going to seed but there are still several meals worth left before they need to be pulled out. 

Brassicas

We have an abundance of brassicas in the garden at this time of year. The curly kale, purple sprouting broccoli and cavolo nero are all doing well, although it looks as the cavolo may be starting to go to seed.

Not ready yet are the pointed cabbages and overwintering cauliflowers.

No brussel sprouts this year as I was having to rethink the layout of a big chunk of the garden after the sycamore trees had been removed and couldn't quite think where to put the sprouts. I shall definitely be putting them in this year; as well as the sprouts they usually produce a lovely "cabbage" on top and, if left long enough, mini-cabbages or "blown" sprouts from any that have been left behind.