Harvest

 We had our first harvest of broad beans with our Sunday roast, they were lovely, best tasting ones we have had, we should now get a steady harvest, I am hoping I can freeze some to save for our Christmas lunch. I planted these back in September, and was at every stage concerned if they were growing well, they managed our mild winter. I will sow more this autumn, in the other bed, it's good to see productive ground in the cooler months. 

We are also eating home grown lettuce and salad leaves, this raised bed is working well as a salad bed. I have copper tape around the back to keep pest away, it sits close to the garage wall. Behind is the blackberry vine, which grows higher up along the garage wall. 

Potatoes are looking heathy, just need them to flower, there are two bags here, one planted a few weeks later then the other, I have high hopes for a good harvest. I had two seed potatoes over, so they are in a raised bed. These bags work well here behind my high raised flower bed, I have no need to get to this spot. 

The other raised veg bed is looking good, the parsnip and beetroot seedlings are growing, these are either side of the middle section, the broccoli is huge, runner beans have started to climb the poles. I am on snail duty most days, I try and keep this bed free, something has nibbled at some of the runner beans, but it has not stopped them growing.

Also in the bed is my cucumber plant, I have a few small cucumbers starting to grow, these are F1 mini cucumbers, so soon we should start to eat home grown. The tomato in the huge pot is a beef tomato, I've not grown bigger tomatoes before, there are a couple of flowers forming. 

The tomato plants in the greenhouse are a bit behind, they are growing, so I'm happy. In the two tubs are cauliflower plants, once the broad beans are finished these will go in that bed. 

Both buckets of carrots are looking good, these are just inside the greenhouse, soon I will find a spot outside, I will also need to thin them out.

I purchased this pepper plant, it has been put into a bigger pot, it will need another slightly bigger pot soon, the first flowers are forming, this is a sweet pepper, I'm not a fan of chilli's.

My leek are doing well, they are strong, I have 19 here, they will go out in the broad bean bed once there is space. These are another veg I have not grown before, I have some onions in the centre of the broad beans, they are looking good.

I have grown fruits for years, again I am using this strawberry tower, this year it's in a different spot, sunny, but not full sun, there are loads of flowers. 

I have two slightly different blueberry bushes in this huge tub, they set fruit at different times, making my harvest last longer, and stops a huge glut. The early bush is full of fruit, looks as if it's going to be a bumper crop. 

Every morning before breakfast I walk around my tiny garden, I have so much squashed into the space, I grow where I can and in bags and pots where I have no soil, we are hopeful for a nice steady harvest, not too much of any thing, just a few nice meals. The veg section is giving me everything I have ever wanted, I will try and grow anything, and if we can eat it, then that's a double pleasure. 

I get so many comments 'your garden is tidy, we have loads of raised beds at different heights, I do like neat lines, so edges of the gardens stay tidy, I don't plant in straight lines, in fact I think I break so many rules, I like plants to mingle, I often plant just one plant, in a small garden there is not room for sways of planting, I also plant closer together. Like many others you get to see the best bits, I'm outside most days, so there is always a small job I can get done. I can't sit and relax if I see something which needs to be sorted, and I do love to sit outside as much as we can.