While I wait for my new greenhouse, my chillies are living in luxury in the conservatory. They are doing pretty well but somewhere along the line I must have got the labels mixed up, because the ones I labelled 'Heatwave' look just like the 'Meek and Mild' poblano ones in the seed catalogue. The fruits are much bigger and fatter. The 'Heatwave' fruits are the same shape as the 'Ring of Fire'. I won't be able to tell which is which until they ripen, because the ring of fire are all red whereas the heatwave are all different colours. Hey ho, all will be revealed eventually. They have been suffering a bit from greenfly - but I have found a way to deal with that particular problem - hoover them up with the vacuum cleaner!
While exploring the garden, I have made an exciting discovery: we have a greengage tree! There is quite a lot of fruit on it too. We also have quite a few fruit on a Japanese quince 'Chaenomales' which is growing over from next door, but I'm not really sure what to do with these. I take it they are edible?
I have dug up all my garlic and autumn sown onions, and my shallots, and this bright utility area turns out to be the perfect place to leave them to dry. I am chuffed with the garlic, less so with the onions and shallots. The spring sown onions look a lot more promising....
It is drizzling today, and there is more rain forecast, which is all good of course, but it does mean I am not so inclined to go to the plot. I got quite a bit of weeding done on Saturday morning, and planted out my second lot of leeks, but there is still quite a bit of weeding to be done. And I still want to sow some more french beans.
I have a cunning plan for growing peas next year... I have done a bit of research and found a couple of dwarf varieties which I could grow under an enviromesh tunnel. They are small enough not to need much (if any) support and as peas are self-pollinating, I can protect them from both pea moths and pigeons right from the start. We'll see. My children don't seem to mind shelling peas, or broad beans, but I'm sure it would make the process quicker and more enjoyable if they didn't have to closely inspect each pod for creepy-crawlies.
I have spoken to the allotment man about my new allotment, and apparently, now that I am living in the area, I have moved up to around number 15 on the waiting list! I don't really know what that means in terms of waiting time - how long is a piece of string?
2 comments:
Exciting finds in your garden. I always grow my peas under netting. It would turn me off them for life if I found a creepy crawly in them.
Hi, I never go through a year without some label mix-up so you're not alone. I built some Enviromesh tunnels a while ago and they are great for keeping the pigeons and cabbage whites at bay. Never grown peas though, I don't think I could deal with the shelling!
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