I think it’s pretty clear now how much of a garden nana I am, and I’ve grown a good few herbs in my garden for the past couple of years – which I really enjoy. But this year, I decided to give actual fruit and vegetable growing a shot…
Now, it’s my first year, so it’s all really an experiment – but so far, things are really thriving. It all started with watching someone on Gardeners World harvest some potatoes, and explain how easy it was… and then, well, it all just kind of got out of control! So I do have potatoes – which are in fact really easy to grow – you just need some seed potatoes, some decent sized pots, or some garden space; though I did decide that pot growing was best, as it saves space and allows you to control any pests better. I cannot wait to dig them up once they’re ready, and enjoy them covered in masses of proper butter, thyme and parsley from the garden – just magical.
I also started my own pumpkin patch, after finding out that pumpkins are actually dead easy to grow too. Again, you just need some space, the right temperature, a full sun spot, and lots of water. I just popped the seeds into a full bed of good quality compost, and as soon as the sun came out, so did the shoots. I feel like they are getting bigger by the day at the moment, and I’m really excited to hopefully see them grow into actual real life pumpkins. I’ve always loved pumpkins, I love the little tendrils, and all the colours they come in – obviously being obsessed with Autumn comes into play too; but I will just be so, so excited if I do grow some. I’ve chosen to grow mine with French Marigolds (from seeds), as it’s said that the colour and scent throw aphids off, not sure how true that is, but they’re a beautiful orange annual; so there’s nothing to lose by giving it a go.
I also have strawberries planted, that I just purchased as bare root plants – and those are thriving, and again, getting bigger by the day – I have some purple sprouting broccoli, that I’ve grown from seed, and is again thriving – just put some netting up to keep the birds off it, if you’re growing your own – they go crazy for the young seedlings. I planted these along side garlic chives and some more French Marigolds, again to deter the pests.
On the garlic subject, I’ve also planted two huge pots of wild garlic, as it’s one of my favourite summer scents, ever. I got a few leaves this year, but as with a lot of plants – these will really come into their own next year. Scent wise, I’ve also had a really successful first attempt of growing sweet peas, I grew them directly from seed, and they’ve done amazingly – they are just about to burst into bloom, and once they do, they will provide endless strongly scented flowers all summer long. The most magical thing about sweet peas, is the more you cut the flowers, the more they produce – so they are ideal for keeping your home topped up with fresh blooms for months on end.
I’m also having a go at peanuts too – I’m not sure how successful they will be, with our unpredictable weather here in the UK, but I thoaught it would be fun to give them a try. They’re a really fascinating plant, they sprout up from the actual peanut itself into green shoots; and eventually the plant gets too heavy for itself and the flowers flop over, and once they touch the ground, they begin to bury themselves under the soil, and this is where the peanuts develop from. Apparently they like lots of humidity, so we will see how they get on, as I don’t have a greenhouse – so fingers crossed for some lucky plant growing weather!
I’ve just discovered crab apple trees this year, after being drawn to one in blossom at the garden centre – which I obviously took home with me. After finishing it’s stunning display of pink and white blossom, and providing for numerous bees – the blossom has now dropped, and I can see the little apples beginning to form. I believe those should be ready around about autumn time, and I already have plans to make pots and pots of crab apple chutney for friends and family.
Then last but not least, I actually have some accidental leeks on the go too. Last autumn, I was cooking a Sunday dinner, and went and burried all the veg ends in our raised flower beds to decompose and provide nutrients to the soil; then much to my surprise around March time this year, leek plants started sprouting up – and have again – thrived. It’s quite strange, as I read up on them and it stated that they do need a little care – but these have received no feed, no extra water, and no compost mulch, yet seem to be getting bigger by the day… just some more lovely garden magic!
