Wednesday 11 August 2010

The beans liked it

The rain, that is. With all we had yesterday I shouldn't have to water the runner beans for a few days.

One of the beauties of growing vegetables is the taste and freshness of the results. There's nothing quite like that plot to pot to plate taste - and try saying that quickly after a couple of glasses of wine. Or even before a couple of glasses. It must have been on Sunday or Monday that we finished the peas, although I have another row still growing. I do have my doubts about them fruiting as it's a bit late in the season. The main crop gave us one of our vegetables for the standard 'meat, potatoes and two veg' meals for a couple of weeks. Now we are into runner beans which are really starting to come on stream with a vengeance. The blackberries are coming along nicely as well. There are a number of plants in the hedge between us and our neighbour - nothing that I have sown but entirely wild. I leave them because the blackberry is one of my favourite fruits. Having them in the garden means I can leave the fruit until it is just right for picking - large, juicy and sweet.

Of course, growing vegetables is not all roses (I think I might have picked the wrong metaphor there!). crops do fail or do less well than hoped. My garlic this year failed completely and the onions grew no bigger than shallots - those that grew at all. Parsnips are usually safe, but this year only two germinated. And the rhubarb has been poor, not only for me, but for everybody I have spoken to. On the other hand, the autumn raspberries are looking good so far. I shall just keep my fingers crossed.

4 comments:

Suldog said...

I don't have a green thumb, but rather a black one. I kill most anything I try to grow. The only edible I have ever successfully grown to an edible stage were a few runty ears of corn when I was a youngster. Otherwise, all failures.

Brighton Pensioner said...

It would certainly help if I had a green thumb - or green fingers, as we call it this side of the pond.

#1Nana said...

It seems too early in the summer to be talking about autumn crops! Our crops were very late this year...watermelons, which are usually ripe for the 4th of July, are just in their second week of harvest. I never like summer to come to an end...I'm not ready for back to school and cool fall days. I'd like a few more months of warm, lazy summer days, please.

Brighton Pensioner said...

Sorry, Nna, but I do like those raspberries, and here in England we really have only a few more weeks that we can call summer.