#sublimesunday | Planning the Vegetable Garden
I woke with the first light, surprised at how early it was, only 6.35am. The sunrise wasn't for another 55 minutes, but already the day was creeping in. This happens on #sublimesunday and no other day of the week.
Second breakfast of fridge leftovers - one of the pleasures of #sublimesunday.
I'd gotten a bit bogged down choosing plants and seeds for the summer planting in my vegetable garden at the back of the house. But time is moving on and I need to chit my first earlies if I am to enjoy new potatoes in June.
Garden Focused is a great UK website where you can find out when to plant early potatoes for your area of the country (plus lots of other great advice).
Yesterday, I sorted myself out and made some decisions! I had three priorities:
Vegetables that mean "Summer"
These include runner beans and courgettes (with the occasional marrow), spinach, fresh off-the-vine flavoursome tomatoes and new potatoes, dug just before cooking. I've also come to love french beans, and this year, I want to try borlotti beans, inspired by one of my favourite cookery writers, Rachel Roddy.
Source Don't they look beautiful? Eat them fresh or dry for the winter.
Vegetables to store for the Winter
I have an organic vegetable box delivered most weeks from Eden Farms in Lincolnshire as part of my drive towards reducing my carbon footprint. This works very well, except that I often run out of onions and potatoes. This year, I'm going to try growing some to supplement the boxes.
New things to try
Last year, I tried sweetcorn, aubergines and brassicas (sprouting broccoli and cut and come again cauliflower). The sweetcorn was fabulous, but we did have an unusually dry and sunny summer. The others were not an unqualified success (still waiting for a hint of cauliflowers, just one would do).
This year, while tracking down borlotti beans, I came across Otter Farm which has Callaloo and Okra - both favourites of my partner (who has also put in a request for strawberries).
Source "The plant is only half as tall as most okras and perfect for growing in a container ... it produces full-sized pods, prolifically, in double the numbers of many old varieties. From sowing to harvest in just 53 days. Grows best in full sun." (from Otter Farm website) - Fabulous patio plant :)
Here's my plan for the vegetable garden: courgettes in the top right which we cleared and added the contents of the compost bin to last summer; early potatoes top left in containers between the cardoons; tomatoes, beans and spinach in the bottom left where they will get the most sun and maincrop potatoes and winter onions with callaloo in the bottom right. Okra and chillies in containers by a brick wall of the neighbour's garage - warm and sunny.
Still have to find a home for the strawberries ...
That doesn't look so bad for leftovers, a little microwaving and your good to go. It will be last nights pizza for us later, not as healthy as what you have though.
Reminds me of a joke a friend used to say, something aling the lines of his mother fed her family on leftovers for over thirty years and they'd never been able to trace the source of the original meal :)
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Wow I have tried borlotti beans before but never seen them in their red skin like that @shanibeer. Strangely we often have potatoes growing randomly in the garden lol.
Maybe the potatoes are from a compost heap? Hehe 😊
The beans are lovely, aren't they?
Yea I think it was from a compost heap before we moved in. I didn't like the taste when I was younger but now its grown on me as I got older they are nice.
That's a healthy selection of left overs, to be fair we rarely have left overs because if anything is left after an evening meal I normally demolish before going to bed! And I don't do breakfast at all - which I know is incredibly bad for my health - but just can not get myself into it - I never feel like eating when I get up. Generally my daily food intake is a small lunch and large evening meal (and evening snacks) which is all wrong - but I'm probably getting a bit old to try and change it.
I'm in awe of your vegetable garden plan though, really thorough and you have a wide selection of vegetables to plant! It would really nice to see posts as you develop the beds and the vegetables grow. I would love to have the motivation to grow a vegetable plot, my mother and her mum and dad were keen gardeners and always grew a wide range of vegetables as well as flowers. Some how all I grow is grass...
#thealliance #witness
I was like you and didn't eat breakfast for years ... now I have two 😊 One is an early breakfast usually just a banana while I wake up, and then layer when I've been up an hour or two, I have my second breakfast. For some reason I had to start having breakfast (maybe some medication that had to be taken after food); it was very hard work, but then I started noticing that I felt much better in the early evening - more energy! It seems strange, doesn't it?
I'm really pleased with the garden, progress blogs sound good 😊
The beans look really decorative. I was always a fan of runner beans with their big leaves and red blossoms - friends have them each year climbing the lattice of their garden pavilion :)
Look at these lovely little mange tout as well:
I may have to have some of those :)
I envy you by seeing your garden plan! It's one of my dreams to do this with a garden. And I also want to have a sun room for growing seedlings in the future. A lot to do!
Your post about seedlings reminded me to get cracking!
I was thinking about a greenhouse in the future - a small one for seedlings might fit at the top of the garden at the back, plenty of sun, too. But there is also some space in the porch, perhaps I should use that first.
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