I have always hated pigeons because of what they eat in the vegetable garden. We had one in the fruit cage on the weekend which I could not get out so gave up. On Sunday morning she was gone but a pile of feathers was left. Today I found her egg. I will have it for lunch tomorrow!
It is a great feeling to have all the broad beans pick and in the freezer now. I think it is a job best done all in one go. Christopher use to do the same and I can see why, it does not drag on this way. I remember doing the same job for Christopher many years ago when Perry was the vegetable gardener.
It does feel like we are in the middle of summer when the courgettes start. As a gardener seasons are important to me and the vegetables that I am going to eat in these seasons.
It feels great to have put the first tie on the tomatoes. Maybe later than in other years but not sure that winter went on so long the past few years. We will just have to see what sort of summer we get and how well they do. The plants are strong!
We have finally got to the fruit cage. I have waited till dear Thomas came back, it is an area that should not be taken on without a friend. I do have to say Thomas has done a lot more up there but we had the dogs helping also.
Wheat is not something that I have through about growing in the past but a friend of Thomas’s sent me seed last winter. We planted it and I am really getting excited by its development. Maybe this summer I will be making bread from my own flour. I should probably point out that I have no idea what I am doing!
The peas have started to set seed which is always something we look forward to! The pea that I am most interested in tasting is P. ‘Golden podded’. This is new to me. I got the seed while in Australia from The Diggers Club.
One of the plants that I am very happy to see growing freely in the very straight lines of vegetables is violas, I have a very new sweet one that I was sent the seed of from a friend in Australia. This is a named one, V. ‘Bunny ears’.
It is a great feeling to now have the tomatoes in the ground and watered in. As a gardener in England we worry most about blight. To try and keep blight away as long as possible I have planted marigolds under with the hope of stopping the water splashing up onto the leaves and lifting the blight up onto the plants.
It is a great end to the week when you get to a job that you have had on your mind all week. The broad beans needed to be tried up. I was worried that we would get strong winds and they would fall over. Support given.
Great Dixter Vegetable Garden 