Quite a mixed bag tonight. I appear to have grown Britain’s biggest beetroots to go with the exhibition cauliflowers. I may have to make that weird summer salad the Greeks like so much – you know, the one that’s a mixture of cooked and raw veg, purple because of the fresh beetroot. Rather nice.
This is turning into an extraordinary year in the vegetable garden. From a very inauspicious start, I’m getting bumper crops in almost all departments.
The ghastly weather helps, of course. Rain sucks, but it makes fierce vegetables.
Posted on 17th July 2011
Under: Cucurbits, Flowers, Potatoes, Roots | 4 Comments »
There’s a shitload more carrots where those came from, but the beetroot is all done for 2009. Ditto the dahlias. I picked the last ones this morning, and the frosts are on their way.
So summer’s definitely over, and you won’t hear me moan about weeds and lack of water for a while.
I’m not too sad. Too bloody busy, what with all the wretched digging.
Guess what I’ll be moaning about now?
Posted on 14th October 2009
Under: Flowers, Roots, Summer | 4 Comments »
Outrageous. Never seen anything quite like this dahlia. It was so huge it could barely hold its head up.
Have just been strolling around the chateau gardens at Flamanville in Normandy. Quite astonishing and breathtaking – the biggest field of dahlias I’ve ever see. All gorgeous.
Most of them had labels to tell you the cultivar, but inevitably all the ones I liked best had lost their tag. That said, I’ve got a dahlia shopping list as long as my arm for next Spring.
Talking of Spring… it’s a bloody long way off, isn’t it?
Posted on 27th September 2009
Under: Flowers | 7 Comments »
Outrageous dahlia. I’ve had buckets full of them this season. Another thing that seems to appreciate warm, dry conditions.
Total failure to blog for the last week; and to garden. The plot is weed hell, and I’m looking at an autumn of seriously hard work to get it back under control.
Can’t say I’m looking forward to it.
Posted on 1st September 2009
Under: Flowers | 4 Comments »
Well, that’s it. When the dahlias start to wilt, you know it’s definitely all over.
It’s not been a great season, let’s face it. Too much rain, too little warmth – just like last year. Only actually I think this one’s been worse; instead of being concentrated (severely) in one month, the rain’s fallen continuously over the whole bloody summer.
Ah well. Never thought I’d look forward to a hosepipe ban.
Posted on 10th October 2008
Under: Flowers | Comments Off on Wilting in October
