9 Mar 2017

#mygardenrightnow In the Veg Patch early March



Last weekend I joined in with Veg Plotting's engaging #mygardenrightnow meme with pics of me in the middle garden as that was where I'd been working but ... "What about the veg patch?", do I hear you ask? Indeed. Still loved, rarely forgotten. That space has been quietly trundling along over winter supplying me with kale, chard, beetroot, a few herbs, wild rocket and bucketloads of inspiration to be outdoors. (I haven't yet nailed the winter salad that I hope to achieve this year.)

Now depleted winter veg but, ooh look!, here comes rhubarb and psb!

From top left: Herb bed (Tarragon, mint in buckets, chives, hyssop, thymes);
Wild garlic (ransoms), Tarragon, Chives.
The gaps will be filled with parsley, coriander and dill and fennel also grows in the garden.

Seeing the garden spring back into life over the past few weeks has brought good cheer and a reason to walk through every day, sometimes lingering to pull a weed or two and making plans.  It's not just veg that's grown here though and my favourite spot right now is the patch under the apple tree - I like to think of it as my "spring border. As soon as the fruit trees were planted, I wanted to pretty up the soil underneath so every year since I've randomly dropped in primulas, mini daffodils, violets, snowdrops and crocuses - all of which are gradually spreading out and providing much needed sustenance for early pollinators.


Last year I transplanted some of the hellebore seedlings from the middle garden and am delighted to see that they've started to flower this spring. The more the merrier!



I'd like to claim that I actually planned the planter above but the sad reality is that I ran out of time in autumn 2015 and plonked crocus bulbs in so that they weren't wasted ... and since last spring had completely forgotten they were there, proving the point that bulbs thrive on neglect.  Most gardeners have their fails but, happily, I seem to have turned this one around.

Inside the veg patch, the raspberry canes have been cut down, empty beds are weed free and mulched where possible - hence the cages over the asparagus bed.  Purple sprouting broccoli is finally starting to sprout to my huge relief. A couple of the plants had got so enormous that they regularly toppled over, blocking the path or crushing other plants depending which way the wind blew. These plants were 'Early summer purple' so wouldn't have sprouted until May; that was bad planning on my part as I now need the bed for other veg so, spur of the moment, I heaved them out. Yep. That was probably a really stupid decision in terms of future harvests but, lesson learned, I should have known by now to place them at the back of the bed, firm them in and tie them up.  The supporting stakes were not strong enough for such big plants. And at least I can now get to the far end of the Veg Patch. Every year a learning curve.

I'm really happy with the veg patch at the moment, although there's still work to be done.  I still have a little bit of hungry gap veg and, more importantly, I have space to get the ball rolling again - and, serendipitously, a bit of free time coming up to do just that.


I've read that #mygardenrightnow will be back in June, joining the Chelsea Fringe online. Look out for news about that nearer the time from Veg Plotting.

14 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Sue - and, yes, I do absolutely love all my little patches of garden!

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  2. What a lovely patch, and good to see a few things still to harvest as well as the next things coming along. The pigeons have had half of my psb, although strangely they haven't touched the other half. I had a lovely few hours outside in the sun on Tuedsay doing some tidying. Next on my list is some sowing, I need to get the sweet peas in. CJ xx

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    1. I put more thought into what I want to see growing in spring that any of the other veg in the year! PSB takes such an age to grow that it's essential to think ahead. What a shame that the pigeons have been at your psb - is it worth netting, even now? I seem to get off lightly on that front, although this is my first year up at the allotment and I think it will be a different story there! Cxx

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  3. That looks very inspiring and good to have raised beds that can be easily edited and re-planted especially when time is short. And I love the fact that every year new skills and past experience can be brought to the plans for this growing season.

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    1. Thanks, Sue. We used to have more raised beds but the wooden ones have started to rot around the edges and have either been taken out completely or replaced with scaffolding plank edges. I like having the areas defined for ease of reaching the plants but am currently reading Charles Dowding who advises that wooden beds provide nice dark corners for slugs, etc!

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  4. I am so impressed, you are so organised! I like that you have flowers to encourage the pollinators to visit, I think maybe I ought to do that under my small fruit trees, although there are plenty of flowers in the rest of the garden.

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    1. Oh yes, although I take pride in a good crop of edibles, it's the flowers that make it joyful. I'm a big fan of true cottage garden planting, ie, flowers among the veg - or should that be the other way round? :o) Seeing pollinators in the garden is the best bit of summer!

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  5. It's all looking and sounding good. Nice to see that you're happy with it, which is how it should be but often isn't. Flighty xx

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    1. Last year wasn't my best year for growing so I'm pleased to see that it all came together in the end - and, as ever, ideas for improvements this year. It's such a small space that it has to work really hard for me - and is relatively easy to manage! C xx

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  6. Your veg patch is amazing for this time of year! I am impressed with your Rhubarb it is well ahead compared with down here! Sarah x

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    1. Thanks Sarah! :o) I'm always amazed when people 'put their gardens to bed' for the winter - there's so much that can still be grown if the soil is well fed. I think rhubarb growth may depend on type as my Red Champagne stems were up before Glaskins Perpetual a few metres away and my friend's rhubarb clump is big enough to pick already! I always think of the West Country as being much warmer than the south east so your rhubarb won't be far behind! Cx

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  7. Good to see what's going on, plenty by the looks of things! The spring flowers are really cheering.It will all become very hectic, very soon.xxx

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    1. Trust me, there will be a lot more going on in a couple of months - big plans for this year! I do love my spring flowers, especially as they open in waves rather than all at once. I can't think about it becoming hectic soon - it already is!!! :oD xx

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