My Tiny Plot

The Cabbages have really crept up on me this year. It seems like yesterday that I was wondering if they would heart up or not and then today I realised that at least one of them was ready to harvest. The others are not far behind. So I cut one Cabbage and pulled a few Carrots too and we made Coleslaw – it was oh so sweet!

It’s interesting how fresh vegetables taste a lot sweeter than older vegetables. That’s because plants make sugars when they photosynthesise (they use carbon dioxide and water to make energy). The energy is sugar in the form of glucose, fructose and sucrose. These are then stored in the plant. So the quicker you eat them, the sweeter they will taste. It’s more obvious with vegetables like Sweetcorn and Carrots and less obvious with leafy crops like Lettuce and Spinach.

I’m not really a big ‘dessert’ person but I do normally crave something sweet after a meal, even if it’s only a cube of dark chocolate. But after last night’s dinner I didn’t. I was satisfied with the sweetness of the Cabbage and Carrots.

The Cabbage variety is Parel and the Carrots are Scarlet Nantes. The Carrots were sown direct in about March and the Cabbages were raised from seed in the greenhouse and planted out in early Spring.

I liked this Cabbage variety so much that I immediately sowed some more for the Winter vegetable garden.

I picked some Roses today for a friend and neighbour who was celebrating her birthday. I love that I can go out into my garden and pick lovely flowers. I feel like some kind of Victorian lady with my secateurs and basket gathering whatever is flowering right now.

Flowers picked from the garden are never the same as the ones from the florist because they are so random. It’s whatever is there right now. The florist has lots of different blooms to choose from but I only have a small selection. And in my garden right now, that means Roses!

I love picking flowers from the garden because what you get is something real. It’s a bit like how when you have a kitchen garden you tend to harvest vegetables that are ready at the same time like New Potatoes and Mint and Tomatoes and Basil, rather than the myriad of things you can buy at the supermarket.

Having a cutting garden is a new joy for me. And I’m only too happy to spread the love.

Tags: Roses

This is one part of my kitchen garden that I’m really happy with. Every inch of it is full. No dirt showing! It looks like a photo from Joy Larkcom’s book. But we all know this won’t last long so I’m savouring it while it’s here. The three types of Lettuces you can see will soon be going to seed if we don’t snip them soon. The Kale and Chard really needs to be picked over and eaten leaf by leaf but I haven’t the heart to do it. The Cauliflowers in the foreground are starting to heart up and will probably be the last men standing in this part of the garden. And the Shallots at the back are swollen and the tips of the leaves are starting to go yellow. Before we know it they will crisp, lying on the floor and ready for digging.

All those lovely fresh, lush photos of kitchen gardens that we see in magazines and books are just a, very short, moment in time. Why? Because we eat the stuff! I for one, struggle to let go of perfection.

Currently enjoying Snap Peas by the bucket and the Hood Strawberries are still coming.

My Mesclun Lettuce mix (which includes Pak Choi, Mizuna, Mibuna and Mustard) went to seed pretty quick in the hot weather but instead of pulling it I let it flower. These bright yellow flowers are from the Mizuna in the mix. The flower stalks are amazingly tall and stay upright. And they attract a wonderful amount of beneficial insects like hover flies, ladybirds, lacewings, bees and other pollinators.

Getting the beneficial insects into the kitchen garden is the difficult bit. Once they are here they seek out aphids, mealy bugs and mites by themselves. It can only be a good thing, right? And the yellow flowers add a great backdrop to the rows of Lettuces below.

Tags: mesclun mix

My first Strawberry harvest of the season! They are a variety called Hood, local here in Oregon. Some people refuse to eat Strawberries until the first Hoods come into season and now I understand why. Wow! they taste amazing. It’s nothing to do with my growing technique just a good variety at home in the Portland climate.

Tags: Hood, Strawberries

One little trend that I noticed for the first time at Chelsea this year is the preference for dark coloured Pea Sticks. I saw them in several gardens. With green Peas and with Purple Podded Peas too. I particularly liked these planted next to red-flowering Broadbeans.

They look very ornamental and the dark wood stands out against the green Peas. They weren’t very tall so I’m hoping that these Peas were a dwarf variety otherwise the sticks would be inadequate to hold them.

The question is where do you find little dark sticks like this. Anyone got any ideas on the type of wood? I usually use twigs stuck in the ground but these little wigwams have won my heart.

Tags: Chelsea 2013, Pea Sticks

Heading home from a lovely time at Chelsea Flower Show. There seemed to be lots of Strawberries in unusual places this year. But the show gardens were as lovely as ever. I’ll post some more photos soon. But for now here’s a photo of some berries in some old boots. And some stuffed in an old suitcase!

Tags: Chelsea

This is our first real harvest. We’ve had a few Spinach leaves but once the Lettuce start coming in, I consider the season to be well and truly underway. This is one of my Marvel of the Four Seasons lettuce. It was planted at the same time as the Rouge d’Hiver but is ready sooner.

I love the mottled colour of these Lettuce. This one has a somewhat upright habit, almost like a Cos lettuce whereas the ones I grew in the UK were softer and rounder. I wonder if the same variety grows differently in different climates or is the seed different. Anyway, the colour is the same and the taste too. Amazing!

It’s nice to have a little helper when it comes to harvest time too.

Tags: Lettuce, Marvel of the Four Seasons

I always said I didn’t like Roses. Not because I don’t like the flowers but because the bushes look pretty bad in the Winter. My new garden has lots of mature Rose bushes in it and they are all flowering right now.

I have white, cream, scarlet, pink, yellow – fragrant, spray, climbers, ramblers – you name it. I must admit I’m coming around to the idea of Roses. They really are blowing my mind. And such a great cut flower too. My house is literally full.

Tags: Roses

We have been having unusually hot weather here in Portland. It’s been lovely to get out into the garden and start enjoying the outdoors, planting things, harvesting things. But unseasonably hot weather is not without its downfalls. Firstly, you’re never sure when it will end. Did I put those plants out too soon, will it get cold again (yes, probably). The plants in the greenhouse need watering twice a day, at least. And my Tomato plants are so big I’ve run out of pots in which to ‘re-pot’ them.

Also it has been so dry that many of my vegetable plants that were in the ground needed a lot of water to survive which meant turning on the irrigation system for the first time. An exciting event in our house since I’ve never owned (or needed to own) an irrigation system before. Once we had figured out the timer situation we turned it on one evening after the boys were in bed (because we all know what would happen if they weren’t!).

Like magic the tiny watering heads slid up and started to water my garden. Ten minutes later my whole garden was watered and happy. Something that would have taken me at least an hour probably more by hand. I was mesmerised and ran around taking photos like a crazy lady.

Then I noticed my husband with a smug look on his face. He smiled and said, ‘Welcome to America baby.’ That made me laugh.

It’s true irrigation systems are both good and bad at the same time.

Most people turn them on too often and for too little time – say for 10 mins every morning. But actually 30mins once a week for an established garden will be better for the plants and will encourage deeper roots which in turn will help the plant be more drought tolerant. Young plants and annuals (like vegetables) still need regular watering though.

They also blanket water the entire garden which means that you’re watering the weeds as well as the plants. It’s much better to spot water plants or use a drip system that targets the main plants. And… water is expensive.

But there’s no denying that irrigation systems are amazing for watering gardens quickly. Especially, lawns. They are labour savers just like lawn mowers, blowers, chippers. The fact that you can zone them, time them and regulate how much water you use is amazing. And like all labour saving devices it frees me up to do the interesting stuff like sowing seeds, planting, planning and pruning.

I know it’s a luxury but I love my irrigation system!