July 2019 in pictures

Not many photos this month as we've been busy with work and other projects, but we have been harvesting plenty of fruit and veg (See A Caversham Garden: July 2019 harvest summary
https://cavershamgarden.blogspot.com/2019/12/july-2019-harvest-summary.html )

We were delighted to see that the bumble bees were back this year. They had found a way underneath the shed through a hole close to the ground in the corrugated iron. An excellent choice as there is flowering comfrey next to the hole. Ideal for breakfast for the bees as they leave first thing in the morning.  

A very different bee was spotted in residence in the garden wall: a mason bee. All I ever managed to capture on camera was the hole in the wall that was the entrance to its nest. 

Flowers were really coming into their own this month. At the front of the house the self sown rudbeckia were showing off and in the main veg garden one of the radicchio underneath the damson plum was sporting mauve/blue flowers.

October 2018 in pictures

There was plenty of veg coming in from the garden this month: beetroot, beans, radicchio, cabbages, kale, Swiss chard, and the last of the courgettes. Towards the end of the month we picked the remaining tomatoes. Most of them were green, some will ripen indoors, and the rest we'll chop up and add to various recipes. 

The foraged sweet chestnut harvest was not as abundant as last year. There were fewer fruits and many of the "nuts" were small and not worth collecting and processing. The long hot, dry spells we had this year were probably to blame. 

September 2018 in pictures

We had an abundance of tomatoes of many colour, sizes and shapes and some of them heritage varieties. Jersey Devil is one that we shall definitely be growing next year long with Orange Banana. Both are substantial, meaty tomatoes with a great flavour.

Runner beans and climbing beans were also doing well.

We grew radicchio for the first time this year and had  several plants dotted around the garden. One, however, was overlooked when it came to gathering heads and leaves, and it quickly went to seed.  We also had a range of swiss chard varieties popping up in various spots, some of it self sown.

The squashes were disappointing partly because I was late putting them in but also, I suspect, because of the long hot, dry spells we had. Not sure is more regular watering would have helped much 

August 2018 in pictures

August was yet another hot month with temperatures in the upper 30s. Great weather conditions for the salad vegetables, chillies and tomatoes but, of course, the pots required constant watering. 

 

Tomatoes: Indigo Beauty and Jersey Devil

Southern Hawker dragonfly on nearby elderberries