Hurry up beans

Midsummer already. Hurry up beans - I'm sure they're slower than usual in growing up their poles. It hasn't been reliably warm yet this year and it's definitely been dry. I expect that's why they're still sitting there at the bottom of the poles looking like this.

However, I spent all day yesterday feeding, watering and transplanting and although I say it myself, it's looking great up there. The broad beans are fantastic, the artichoke is producing more tender young globes than we can eat, the spinach beet has been delicious and the potatoes and garlic are almost ready. I'm just waiting for the beans to climb up their poles before I can say it's truly summer.

So, with the usual silly timing, instead of sitting back and enjoying all this lovely summer produce and spending time just chilling with a beer and a barbecue, what do we do? Yes, we pack up the camper and head off into the sunset on our holiday and come back just in time to start all the weeding and strimming again. Nuts, really.

Happy gardening (and happy holidays)

So far, so good

All this fecundity! I've been far too busy planting, weeding, and watering my allotment to have any time left over to write about it. It's all looking damned peachy out there at the moment.

I think the modular system has been really successful in providing small, intensive growing areas that are easy to maintain. Taken as a whole, the plot resembles a patchwork quilt of these little modules with their varying vegetable occupants, but the one quality they share is that so far, touch wood and all that, all the modules are producing abundant, healthy plants.

So far this year we've already cropped radishes, pak choi, lettuces, rocket, spring onions, turnips, spinach beet, spring greens, broad beans and a couple of strawberries. Oh, and there was a fine crop of rhubarb earlier on. I forced it under a broken incinerator and the stalks were particularly tender and pink.

We're not remotely self sufficient, but we certainly grow enough to make a huge difference to the quality of what we eat because it doesn't come any fresher than this, does it?

Happy gardening