Wow. OK, this was always intended to be a before-and-after post, but the photographic evidence has shocked even me. Back in March, I took this photo of my intended vegetable plot:
before
This morning, I took this one, from roughly the same vantage point:
after
Well, colour me impressed. And, apparently, green. All those 15 minute intervals really do seem to add up.
I have peas, beans, crookneck and butternut squash, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, kohl rabi, salad greens, tomatoes...
Like Toni, I may have gone a bit nutso with the squash. I blame this on the fact that for the last couple of years, I've tried to grow squash, and melons, in pots. They've produced lots of powdery mildew, but no actual fruits.
This year, I have at least seven crookneck squash vines, and at least two butternut squashes. Crooknecks are, apparently, similar to courgettes (zucchini), in that they are soft-skinned summer squash, but taste nicer, and (importantly for feeding them to J) are not courgettes. Anything's worth a try.
Anyway, they're going totally crazy, escaping the raised beds and attempting to grab the hounds as they walk past:
Kita has a lucky escape.
Those beds are two metres long and one metre wide, so you can imagine how big the leaves are. Also, if you click on the photo for the larger version (and can tear your eyes away from the menacing squash vines), you can see many, many yellow pea pods on the first two pyramids. (The other pyramid houses beans). These are a golden mange-tout variety, so we'll be harvesting from those Real Soon Now.
The tomatoes are also going to need an intervention this weekend. I put nine plants in a 1x1 bed, on the premise that three grow bags fit the space nicely, and each grow bag can hold three plants. That might be true for vine tomatoes, but these are all bush varieties, and are now barely constrained by the bird netting:
the tomato corral, viewed past the giant peas. and more squash.
I have peas, beans, crookneck and butternut squash, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, kohl rabi, salad greens, tomatoes...
Like Toni, I may have gone a bit nutso with the squash. I blame this on the fact that for the last couple of years, I've tried to grow squash, and melons, in pots. They've produced lots of powdery mildew, but no actual fruits.
This year, I have at least seven crookneck squash vines, and at least two butternut squashes. Crooknecks are, apparently, similar to courgettes (zucchini), in that they are soft-skinned summer squash, but taste nicer, and (importantly for feeding them to J) are not courgettes. Anything's worth a try.
Anyway, they're going totally crazy, escaping the raised beds and attempting to grab the hounds as they walk past:
Kita has a lucky escape.
Those beds are two metres long and one metre wide, so you can imagine how big the leaves are. Also, if you click on the photo for the larger version (and can tear your eyes away from the menacing squash vines), you can see many, many yellow pea pods on the first two pyramids. (The other pyramid houses beans). These are a golden mange-tout variety, so we'll be harvesting from those Real Soon Now.
The tomatoes are also going to need an intervention this weekend. I put nine plants in a 1x1 bed, on the premise that three grow bags fit the space nicely, and each grow bag can hold three plants. That might be true for vine tomatoes, but these are all bush varieties, and are now barely constrained by the bird netting:
the tomato corral, viewed past the giant peas. and more squash.
I do love my garden.
Brilliant news on the abundance - we harvested the first of our peas and froze the pods ready for making pea pod wine :-)
Posted by: Tempewytch | July 06, 2009 at 02:00 PM
I love your garden too! Wonderful photos.
Posted by: Dot | July 06, 2009 at 06:59 PM