a woman of the soil … the veg garden in June

Before we went on holiday  I was a bit anxious that all the newly planted veg would be devoured by slugs and snails without my daily vigilance  … we have had far more snails this year … they tend to hide at the back of the containers in the shade … I must have despatched dozens into the back field … but they always seem to find their way back into the garden.

I was genuinely surprised that none of the lettuce had been got at … although I did go round with organic slug pellets before we left just to make sure.  The next picture shows my salad bar behind the container potatoes and broad beans – again, I ran out of room to plant them in the ground.  It will take me a while to get used to not having as much space as I used to – and maybe I will learn a few lessons this year to put into practice next year.

We have quite a few pigeons and doves visiting the bird feeders and this year they seem to have taken a liking to my brassicas – no sooner than they were planted they were eaten down to a stump … I have run out of spare plants to replace them with now … luckily one bed with more mature plants are still doing okay … but my attempt at a mixed flower/veg bed has been a bit of a disaster.  I mixed some new booster type material into the planting hole which seems to have burned the roots, so everything is now looking a little pathetic and will have to be re-planted with something else.  Oh well … not everything goes to plan.

One of the raised beds has had its protective cover removed now that the veg has established itself and contains parsnips, carrots, potatoes, beetroot and chard … just a little of each … and I am quite pleased with the results.

The next bed contains peas, courgettes and lettuce … and is doing well … all looking healthy.

The runner beans are being grown in containers as I didn’t have any room left to grow them in the ground … they are starting to climb nicely … although the snails have taken a fancy to them … but the damage is only minimal so far.

I have used an old water tank to grow my outdoor tomatoes in – a bit of re-cycling has put it to good use.

And finally, I have masses of blueberries and gooseberries on the bushes – the blueberries have a way to go yet before they are ripe … and I like to leave the gooseberries until they go soft and sweeten up a bit.  Most of my miniature pears fruitlets have dropped off, there are only half a dozen left now … but I do have plums this year after having none for the last two years, so that is a bonus … plus, the outdoor strawberries are doing well but a long way to go before they ripen.

It is a joy to see everything doing so well … and the anticipation of future harvests is one of life’s gardening pleasures.

Oh I nearly forgot the cucumbers and tomatoes

They are growing like wildfire, I seem to be tying them in every five minutes they are growing so fast – I have plenty of flowers but no fruits forming yet (actually that’s not true, I have just spotted a baby tomato in the centre of the picture – yay!) – mind you I still have some of last years’ tomatoes in the freezer, but nothing tastes the same as a fresh from the vine cherry tomato – can’t wait.

And to finish – a picture of my container grown peas – they have done so well this year.

‘Til next time – happy veg growing.