First Harvest

It is now early June and the sun has been shining for weeks, the temperature has hit the early 30s and I have emptied two of the rainwater butts keeping my young plants watered.  There has been a major burst of growth over the past week and I am starting to harvest the fruit and salad that is ripening in the warmth and sunshine.

The peas are swelling in their pods, which are hanging heavy from the winding climbers

The broad beans have been flowering profusely for the last 3 weeks, and the bees have been busily pollinating them.  Huge purple black carpenter bees, alongside lumbering bumble bees have done their work, and despite a bit of brown spot on the plant, I have spotted the first beans

And even the french beans which went out into the garden a little early, have started to produce their first crop.

The canteloupe melons have been planted out and have been putting on new growth,

And the butternut squash plants are growing rapidly, and the first pumpkin has appeared.  A mite too early to start carving it yet though.

The ferny tops of the carrots have completely filled the enviromesh cover

And the broccoli, sprouts and cauliflower are thriving under the mesh, as it is providing some shade from the intense heat of the sun

After starting them in the greenhouse, the sweetcorn have now been planted outside in a block to ensure they are all pollinated, and we get the sweetest corn cobs

All the tomatoes have been planted out now as the night time temperatures are staying above 10 degrees, and after the tiny yellow flowers, I now have the first signs of the cherry tomatoes

Our fruit bushes are also bearing fruit now, in various stages of ripening.
The raspberries have just formed and are starting to swell

The little bell flowers on the blueberry plants have been replaced with the berries that are starting to turn from green to blue

Whilst shading under the leaves of the bush, the gooseberries are starting to ripen

And the rhubarb has almost taken over one side of the fruit bed

Even the grapevines that we transported over from England made it through the -16 degree winter freeze, and have not only put on leafy growth, but we also have the first grapes appearing

And finally our strawberries are bright red jewels in the veggie beds, sweet and juicy, best tasting when eaten warm straight off the plant.

And along with the spinach salad leaves and radishes, they have provided us with our first harvest.

Hugh Fernley had a great tip to store strawberries.  He advised putting them in a sealed container with some golden sugar and then to shake them about to break the surface of the fruit slightly which when mixed with the sugar produces a sweet natural glaze to the fruit.  He added vinegar too, but I don't think they need this.  Served with a big dollop of creme fraiche, they are amazing - so sweet and juicy, and an intense strawberry flavour - didn't manage to see how long they last with this method though as we ate them all!

Planting out in May

With the re-appearance of the sun in early May, it is finally time to plant out in the garden.  The water butts are full, the soil is thoroughly wetted and the conditions are ideal for planting out seeds.  The temperatures are climbing again to the mid 20s, and overnight staying above 7 degrees, so with the chance of frost over, some of the more tender plants can be planted out directly.

The broad beans and peas are planted as seeds straight into the bed with a wigwam of canes erected to help them clamber upwards.

The swede and turnip seeds have been sown ready for winter stews and soups, and thinned to give them maximum room for the roots to swell

Whilst the carrot and parsnip seeds have been planted and then covered with Enviromesh to keep out any carrot fly that would happily decimate our crops

Two types of spinach seed have been sown, the large leaves for cooking down with butter and plenty of salt and pepper to accompany our roast chicken.  Whilst the smaller salad leaves are eaten raw and give a lovely peppery flavour to summer salads

To accompany them, I have sown mixed radish seeds, of different sizes, colours and heat levels. An easy salad plant to grow as they swell so quickly and can be eaten within a couple of weeks of sowing the seed.

In the greenhouse I have started planting my more tender crops.  Sweetcorn seedlings are just pushing through the compost,

Canteloupe Melon, butternut squash and pumpkin are rapidly growing in size

Whilst the dwarf french beans have grown strongly to form solid little plants

I am growing flowers from seed to attract the pollinating insects, both for the vegetables and for Nicks macro photography.  The seedlings are growing happily in the greenhouse, and the morning glory vines are already in flower

In the orchard, the rains in April caused some peach leaf curl to the Nectarine and the Peach tree, even though I had applied Bordeaux Mix in Autumn and early Spring, but picking the leaves off and disposing of them seems to be working as the trees are both bearing fruit

Although I will need to pick off some of the immature nectarines in order to ripen just a few, as there are over 20 young fruit on the tree

And the apricot tree which is flourishing in terms of leafy growth and size, has just one ripening fruit.  I can't decide whether to make an apricot tart (for one),  or a tablespoon of apricot jam!

The Roe Deer are Hungry

We have a small herd of roe deer living in the orchards behind our farm buildings.  A stunning male

leads a herd of 6 young females

and they regularly explore our gardens, coming within feet of the house.  We have always loved watching them delicately picking their way through the buildings, grazing the shrubs and lawns, on guard at all times and ready to flee at any noise.

Unfortunately their love of young tender shoots has cause a few issues.

When planting all of our young trees, we were conscious that we had to protect them from voles and rabbits, so we surrounded them by tree guards

Unfortunately these guards were no match for our hungry deer and many of the leading shoots were torn off the young saplings.

So some replacement saplings were ordered, with some special deer-proof tree guards 4 foot high - apparently the maximum height that a roe deer will graze, and some chestnut stakes.
The fine-holed netting is very stiff and stands four square, when folded and staked with a chestnut stake and a cane support

Only 85 trees needed to be re-netted, and about a third of the saplings needed to be replaced!

On a positive note, the farmer was due to cut the fields and bale the hay, so the taller chestnut stakes made it much easier for him to see the new saplings, and we managed to avoid any casualties.

April Rain

Having had a glorious March this year, April was a whole month devoted to filling the lakes and water reserves!  It has rained almost every day this month. and it has been cooler than normal.  It has been an ideal month for sitting in the greenhouse and potting on my seedlings, which have been developing fast.  Watching the rain pattering down outside and listening to soothing music, while our new husky puppy sits contentedly under the bench feeds my soul.

As each new seedling breaks the surface of the compost, it amazes me.  I have never grown anything from seed before, and assumed my success rate would be minimal, but it seems nature has a way of overcoming even an amateur's fumblings.
My french beans unfurling in the sunshine

Any my sturdy little nasturtium and marigold seedlings..

I sowed asparagus from seed, in addition to the asparagus crowns planted directly into the ground, and they seem to be doing well in the bright greenhouse

I have planted three different types of cherry tomatoes - Yellow Pear, Reisentraube and Gardeners Delight.  Reisentraube seems to grow more slowly but is dense and strong, but all of them are progressing well and have been potted on for the third time before they go out into the garden

And considering the temperature at night is still under 10 degrees, and the greenhouse is not heated, the chillies are also growing well.  I have grown Jalapenos 'Early' and 'Purple', and Red Habaneros, as Nick loves his chillies.

On the odd sunny days in the garden the fruit bushes are coming into flower and setting us up for a good supply of fruit.  The strawberries are sprinkled with little daisy like flowers

The raspberry canes are covered in tight buds and flowers

And tiny bells have appeared all over the blueberry bushes.

And as the sun starts to appear more regularly at the end of April, the seedlings can go back outside to harden off before I start planting them out into the beds.