Longest Day, Midsummer’s Day & Summer Solstice

As we left all of the Summer Solstice celebrations behind last week, we appear to have left the mini heatwave behind too.

It has been lovely having some proper summer weather, allowing us to get outside more. As usual it broke before the weekend which is a shame for all the workers.

Although as a gardener I’ve almost been doing a rain-dance, as the garden’s got drier and drier! It’s been crying out for a drink and watering had become a daily job. Even plants in the border were wilting and in need of an occasional soaking.

The pond was also getting really low and as I’d put two new marginal plants in there, I was bizarrely having to water them!

The heat has certainly brought the garden on and the borders have been filling up with flowers, the harvesting is also now in full swing.

Eating al fresco

As soon as it’s warm enough, we are out there eating and drinking.

Whether it’s just having that second coffee of the morning, whilst podding broad beans for the Sunday roast.

Or eating our evening meal outside. The George Forman grill has been outside a few times already. It’s so much easier than barbecuing!

The two courgette plants started fruiting recently and we discovered last year how easy it was cooking them in the grill. Much better than oven roasting and with the same caramelised flavour.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but eating meals outside always makes me feel like I’m on holiday!

Harvesting in full swing

We’ve been eating mangtout and an odd sugarsnap for weeks now. The broad beans started a couple of weeks ago and we now have them with almost every meal – Note to self, don’t plant so many next year!

The purple sprouting broccoli is also still going strong. The first plant has gone over, but two more are taking over.

This is the first year I’ve planted onion sets in autumn, which has been a great success, producing a really early crop. We’ve also discovered that picking them small, they taste super sweet like spring onions.

I was a bit late sowing the beetroot in the same bed as the onions, so they’re not quite ready yet. The stems look gorgeous though in the late afternoon sun.

We continue to enjoy our purple potatoes, even the gardening apprentice is raving about them and he doesn’t really do potatoes!

As well as rhubarb for breakfast, we’re now having strawberries too. The strawberry staircase (built by the apprentice) has worked very well.

In the Greenhouse

Those chilli plants that we over wintered in the house are now covered in chillies in the greenhouse. For some reason the leaves don’t look too healthy, but its not stopping them from fruiting!

There are mini green tomatoes on most of the plants in the greenhouse now and I seem to have to wind them around the string they’re growing up nearly everyday! Not long to go!

At the end of the tomato bed the two gherkins are growing like mad. They started producing fruit about a week ago, so I’ve been pickling them regularly. They are more delicious than I can say.

Flowers

My new little wild flower border is turning out much better than I would have expected for its first year.

I grew Californian poppies from seed last year and they’ve been fabulous. Each plant has had masses of flowers on and they’ve now been at it for over a month.

The corn flowers, I grew this year and they are flowering already and the whole bed is proving very popular with the bees.