What's for TEA tonight...!

Having been away for the weekend – which was warm & sunny – I’ve been to the Hill only to lament at the weeds, wonder at everything ‘coming on’ & to pick my TEA every couple of days!

Jane’s put in four tomato plants around the Prize Pumpkin, and she’s eight more at home ready to put in once the garlic are out of the way. They could do with plumping up a bit – each bulb about the same as about 4 cloves on ‘proper’ garlic from the shop….

I would be good to think that I am now in the position not to have to buy any more vegetables – but this may prove a bit ambitious – although I don’t think that I’d die of scurvy if I never bought another vegetable ever again.

I saw Reg-next-plot briefly last night – he was dressed up to the nines for ‘music night’ at the club & was collecting a magnificent hanging basket from his shed which was the raffle prize. He said that he’d scrapped all of his onions – ‘no good, the lot of them – it’s the whole site’ – but I didn’t have a chance to ask about a more positive course of action.

It’s far from all doom & gloom, though – this week I’ve been eating POTATOES (rocket), a few CARROTS (adeline & early nantes), SPINACH (hector f1). The BROAD BEANS (aguadulce) are beginning to taste a bit ‘furry’ so I’ve left them for a while to grow, but have brought some 6-7” pods home tonight in the hope of podding them for the beans.

I’ve also had more LETTUCE (mixed) & RADISH (cherrybelle) and took a load of these and potatoes to Jane’s yesterday. I also had three minute SPRING ONIONS (white lisbon) to add to a salad – but I must sow more, probably at home as they do not seem to thrive at the Hill. Blessed eelworm, I expect.

One job I have managed early this week was to earth up the later sown rows of potatoes – those which were planted with a bit of a breathing space between them, so that’s looking much better – & I need to give some thought to the next crop, which will be the leeks that have been sitting in a foil tray here at home for the last few weeks. Coo – successional sowing, eh?

Of course there’s a heap of sowing to be done at the weekend, after fighting off the weeds, & it MAY BE that the peas which are laden might actually have some pods big enough to pick!