Chopping the Chives

About this time of year I chop my Chives down to the ground. You can leave them to get hit by the frost but they look so messy when I do that. I prefer to have their little stubbly leaves down the side of the pathway instead. It’s definitely getting colder! Brrrrr.

Winter Salad Garden

It’s time to clear away the Tomatoes in the greenhouse and start to think about using the raised bed for something else. When I took out the Tomatoes the bed was half empty of soil so I bought some new potting mix to build it back up again. Then I planted some Winter Density Lettuce […]

At the Pumpkin Patch

At the pumpkin patch. Along with the thousands of other people on this gorgeous day!

Sowing Crimson Clover and Rye

A couple of weeks ago I sowed a green manure in the beds that were empty. I chose Crimson Clover because in the Spring I had seen some that was flowering in an allotment near our local school. It was beautiful. It had long, nodding fluffy heads of the most amazing red wine colour. When […]

Always Go for the Magical Shot

This is a photo of some seedlings that I have in my greenhouse. This is another photo of the same seedlings. There is nothing wrong with the second photo. It’s perfectly fine. It’s in focus and has some good colour. But… it’s nothing special. The first photo has a special quality to it. The angle […]

Sunshine Dried Spaghetti Squash

At the moment my greenhouse is home to a collection of Spaghetti Squash that I just harvested. It was one of the more successful plants I had from the curcubit family this year. The other one was Butternut Squash. But they are not quite ready yet. I had two Spaghetti Squash plants placed pretty close […]

Bye Bye Oak Leaf Triffids

How did they get that big? I knew that they went to seed. It seemed like it was about a month ago but then the next day they were this big! It’s time to clear up the Oakleaf Lettuce. They did very well all Summer. We ate handfuls of lovely fresh Lettuce every day. And […]

“But…I Don’t Do People”

“I don’t take photos of people’ – that’s what I told them when they asked me to do this photoshoot for the 2014 Master Gardener recruitment campaign here in Portland. And it’s true! I’m happy taking photos of Cabbages, Tomatoes, whole Chard plants and even rows of Peas, but people? Well, I try to keep […]

Green Tomato Harvest

The weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse here in Portland. There has been non-stop heavy rain for over a week and not only has it played havoc with my guttering but it has also beaten my Tomatoes almost to the ground. There is little chance that the remaining Tomatoes will ripen so […]

Edamame Beans – whodathoutit

I grew Edamame Beans this year. And a couple of days ago I harvested some. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything to come of the plants. I never saw any seed for sale while I was in the UK so I assumed that you couldn’t grow them. When I moved here the seed packets were everywhere […]