June in the garden…

Finally a month that we weren’t away for a great chunk of, and a chance to really get stuck in to the garden! In spite of our “neglect” over the past few months though, it’s already doing well - with the notable of our first peas harvested…

As expected they are absolutely delicious- in fact early on we were  pretty much just eating them raw - thrown into salads, couscous etc. The later end of the crop have been lightly cooked. Perfect little flavour bombs - and definitely a crop we will grow again allowing for how relatively low effort they have been. In future years we’d probably sow successionally to keep them coming for longer, too. The final few pods that dried on the plants as they were missed on picking have been set aside to dry for saved seed.  The strawberries too were producing well right through the month - we don’t have many plants so we’re never going to be looking at suitable amounts for jam or similar, but we’ve been thoroughly enjoying a few each here and there, often just eaten freshly picked from the plants as a treat! Those too will be multiplying by themselves as we’ve caught some runners and potted them up which should double our plant numbers for next year. 

Once again our trusty bargain mini greenhouse is proving it’s worth - less so the cold frame purchased earlier this year from one of the discounter supermarkets - that has turned out to be flimsy and with a tendency to pull itself apart in all but the lightest winds - so we wouldn’t recommend. It has shown us the value of a cold frame though so it is safe to say we might look into a rather more sturdy one at some stage.  It did serve a purpose, and we might see if it can be put back together in a slightly more structurally stable way! 

As for the general look of the garden - the front is really starting to come together into the sort of look we were aiming for now - sort of cottage garden on a very small scale. 

The Nicotiana in the middle there is a complete win - it sprang up from nowhere in the veg patch in the spring, we weren’t sure what it was but as it looked interesting MrEH dug it up and popped it into a pot…a month or so later it burst into the most beautiful flowers, and as it had just the amount of height we wanted, off to the front garden it went! The rose at the back was one of those we bought from a clearance section (either a local garden centre or the big orange DIY place, can’t recall which) last year and it’s one of the best things we have out in as it just flowers constantly and beautifully. The bright pink Salvia was purchased from the lovely plant chap at the local Farmers Market - £4! What a bargain! 

The back too is starting to look good - we’re intending to train the squashes over the arches, and with the Campanula, lavender and Rose Campion flowering we’re quite the haven for the local pollinators now.  We’ve started keeping a list of the various more interesting insects we’re seeing in the garden too - with the highlight being a couple of visits from a Hummingbird Hawk Moth the other weekend - the first time either of us had seen one! 

Robyn