When You Turn Your Back for Two Seconds...

A courgette (zucchini) will turn into a big fat marrow, or monster, to be precise.

This very large specimen is 60 cm in length and 16 cm diameter and weighs an astonishing 10 kg !
I prefer my courgettes petite, but I'm really, really, really loving this huge masterpiece. I guess courgette soup is on the menu for the coming months, at least.

Patricia xxx...x

My Big Fat Harvest

Squash Futsu. Or that is what it should have been. My only fruit from 6 plants. 

It should look like

this

photo from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Let's just say, if we had to live of the land we'd probably starve to death.

A grim, wet and rather cool summer has resulted in poor pickings.

From our many tomato plants I've managed to make one decent tomato salad. Chillies and peppers didn't do too bad, but ripening on the plant is not for this year.

Sweet pepper - Lipstick. A novelty, green lips. 

In the background - Early Jalapenos. Slugs have been munching away at them and I hope they enjoyed the sting when they did their number two's.

In the front - Hungarian wax. They have given a reasonably good harvest and I'll certainly plant them again.

Squash Butterbush. Similar to butternut but smaller/stockier. Only, mine are larger. The big one is about 25 cm long and these two are the only fruits from I-don't-know-how-many plants. Dire.

The real thing should look like 

this

photo from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

This should be a squash Tuffy. 

But a real one should look like 

this

photo from The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Pumpkin Rouge Vif d'Etampes.

They have done well in comparison with the other fruiting veg. Only one pumpkin per plant, mind. 

I had 8 plants in total of which 3 were wiped out by cold wind and rain early in the season. 

One other pumpkin got completely hollowed out by slugs.

Completely eaten away on the inside.

I don't know what more I could have done to get a better crop of vegetables. Even my courgettes have let me down this year with a produce of male flowers and hardly any fruit.

All is not lost. We still have spinach, chard, carrots, beetroot and two types of cabbage.

Next year better.

Patricia xxx...x

In with a New Post....

....before the next lot arrives.

That will be Bert's older brother and his wife and they are expected in an hour or so.

Salad made, chicken in the oven and potatoes ready to roast.

But first a few photos of the last lot.

 A novel way to wash the hands.

 Washing up chores, since the dishwasher packed it in (on my birthday !)

And a little outing in the dinghy.

 There was no one as happy as Roisin on Monday, when she had the house free of rowdy kids and adults alike.

We've had a fun few weeks but everything has gone reasonably quiet here now.

The veggie garden hasn't been the success I had hoped for. Lack of sunshine, too much rain and not enough time spent tending to it are all causes of a less than favorable harvest thus far.

A few pumpkins and the odd squash. The tomatoes are a bit meh.....

The few zinnias that haven't been eaten by slugs and whatnots are a joy to see in the herb bed.

Next year better on veggie front !

I hope everyone is having a relaxing and sunny summer with better results in the veggie plot.

Patricia xxx....x

Lemongrass

Lemongrass is hard to come by in this corner of the world and you can't really do anything without it if you want to cook some of the most flavoursome  Asian cuisine.

The main supermarket in the nearest town doesn't always have it in stock and when they do I seem to have the last packet of 2 measly stalks.

One day evening (when other people visit the pub) I was browsing Pinterest  again and saw a way to propagate lemongrass from shop bought stalks. It is always worth giving it a try, don't you think ?

Thus I bought 2 stalks of the lemongrass when I next noticed them in said supermarket (yes, the last ones again). I sliced juuuuuust the thinnest slice off the bottom of the almost woody end. Plonked them in a jar of water on the kitchen worktop by the windows.

I checked them every hour the first day to see if they were sprouting roots yet. It took a bit longer but not much. I religiously changed the water every two days.

Roisin helps with the checking for roots. The first thing you'll notice is the grass starts to grow, green, before the roots pop through.

After a week or two you'll notice a good root system developing.

The fresh green bit near the roots is a new stalk beginning to grow.

"You're boring me now"

Yesterday, Nil potted them up for me in organic compost.

And now I'll water and wait.

Enjoy the weekend !

Patricia xxx...x

Where Did the Time Go ?

It's been ten whole days since my last post and I'm not really sure what I've been doing during that time.
Well, yes. One of the things I did was 'embellish' the freshly painted front door. I went on a shopping spree and bought two bright pink planters, two marguerites and 4 lavenders. I repurposed an old-ish wreath by covering it with burlap/hessian ribbon and two little boats in wood. Bow ! Bam ! Ready !

Our new volunteer arrived on the 13th. Her name is Nil and she is from France. She's a good sport and a fast learner. She has been weeding around the raised beds, tied up the tomato plants in the greenhouse, transplanted seedlings, planted out lettuces, etc. etc. She works good and  meticulously.
And we cleaned the house from top  to bottom (almost).

There is someone living in the Wendy house for chickens, but that will be revealed in the coming days.

So, now I'm off, doing some more of not much. I definitely need a kick up the backside.
Have a lovely weekend.
Patricia xxx...x

I'm Afraid

Like a mother, refusing to let her kids wander off in  this crazy and dangerous world.

Only, I am talking about my young veggie plants. I want to cosset them. I am afraid of all that is about to happen to them when/if I plant them outside.

An empty bed, waiting for me to get my act together.

I have lost about 8 courgettes and squashes to the cold easterly wind and  slugs. Luckily I have kept a few plants back and these are the ones that I want to treasure, I would like them to stay indoors where nothing destructive can touch them, preferably next to my bed. I have to bite the bullet and let them try to flourish out in the vegetable garden though.

The cabbages are in dire need of a space and I had just found the spot, only to discover a megalopolis for ants. Oh joy !

Some lime to sort out the very acidic soil, an extra layer of organic potting compost, a sprinkling of diatomaceous  earth and the white cabbage 'Enkhuizen' planted.

Not without a cardboard collar against cabbage root fly. I was reminded of this practice when reading one of Mark's Veg Plot posts . Of course ! My parents (my mother, actually) used to do this.

 I also used netting, which I bought a while back, to protect against cabbage white butterfly. I have now done everything within my power to give them the best start.  And if all goes to plan, I'll be making sauerkraut next winter.

The chickens had gotten into the radishes and made a fine mess. Fortunately, I can easily resow. If it's not the chickens, it's the cats who are exceptionally grateful for these huge cat litter boxes. Hence the bit of protection for the newly planted courgettes.

Did I tell you about our slug problem ? Well, we also have a humongous amount of leatherjackets  living in the soil, waiting for some roots to eat.
Fortunately, the latter have mainly been found in the flower garden and not in the raised beds. I throw them on the gravel area where the cars are parked, hoping the birds might find them. If not, they'll dry out and die a slow death.  How cruel am I ?

I had the healthiest looking tomato plants I've ever grown. We acclimatised  them in the tunnel for a week before planting out. And they still looked great.
The day after planting I noticed a few where drooping. They have deteriorated further.

A few days before the next photo

Surfing the net doesn't give me much to go on. A friend of ours thought it could be the soil, too acidic. We treated the soil with a sprinkle of lime granules and gave the foliage an extra seaweed extract shower. Here's hoping it will make a difference.
The funny thing is that there is only a few of the plants that are affected.

It's not all bad news. The broad beans are looking fantastic in full bloom.

The sugarsnap peas have suffered too but there is at least one or two pods making an appearance.

A few of the potatoes that I had dug out of the pantry and planted have popped above soil level.

Maybe in a few weeks time this small veggie plot will have some successes and I won't feel so disheartened.
Fingers and toes crossed.


Ouch ! Got a cramp in me toes !

Patricia xxx...x