Shhh…it’s early!

It’s not quite 7am as I start to write this - these days I find that on a weekend if I wake up any time after about 6am though, I just want to get up. Uninterrupted time to just potter about is underrated, and my usual weekend morning routine in the warmer months is to get up, pop the kettle on and head to the garden for a wander round. Want to come with me? Come on then…

We head out of the door and left - with the first thing that catches the eye being that painted-pallet table where the herb boxes live. They aren’t loving the hot weather mind you, and look a bit ratty I agree, but the petunias in the small pots in front are a different story and have been flowering away! Those are a garden centre clearance bargain as are so many of the bedding plants we have.

The Tromboncino Squashes are one of the undoubted triumphs of the year, and their comedy value cannot be understated. They are also growing like the clappers - I’ve got a fridge full and these two will need picking before long, with “long” being the operative word - MrEH measured the closer one yesterday and it was 2’8” for goodness sake! 

Next doors Honeysuckle is a welcome intruder over and through the fence - with its gorgeous smelling flowers in spring and early summer, and then the riot of bright red berries just now. We’ve actively trained it on our side so it covers the fence nicely now - there is a winter Jasmine as well but that takes a bit more attention and cutting back!

Our runner beans have been a disappointment this year which is a shame after the prolific crop in 2025 - we think the hot weather is to blame, there has been plenty of flower as you can see, but beans setting have been a rarity.

Into the corner created by the shed and office, and the first tomato plants. The mini greenhouse too -  can you spot the newspaper blocks MrEH makes ready for use on the fire in the winter? Obviously no need of the greenhouse at this time of year but it does work well for drying those out. A first aubergine plant in that little area too - we’re so pleased with these, those purple flowers alone are worth the effort! A courgette creeps in on the right too - this one is in a growbag and isn’t massively happy - we had a spare plant and nowhere to put it though and by now we all know MrEH’s take on “spare” plants, don’t we!

We didn’t have huge success with pepper and chilli plants this year either - but this is a Corno di toro Rosso sweet pepper which does actually seem to be earning its keep. 

Something that really does work well in growbags are Minibel tomatoes - just look at how much fruit is on there! I love this variety - tasty little fruit, compact and easy to grow and as you can see, prolific. They also fruit for a long period of time rather than the tendency of some varieties for everything to ripen in a rush. 

We still call this the “new” veg bed - it’s the one we created by removing a big patch of patio soon after we moved in, remember? The bronze fennel on the left is looking a bit sorry for itself now but it is absolutely covered in seed - a little more time drying and we’ll be nabbing those for use in cooking. Those Minibel toms get into the action in the foreground and then our main courgette plant - more on that in a second. A Savoury lurks in there - lovely with roast chicken, it sees a lot of use through the winter months, and in the summer when it flowers the bees love it. In the background there is sweetcorn and a few additional sunflowers - although none as big as the monster in the header picture which was one of the plants next door gave us in exchange for tomato plants. 

The courgettes we’ve grown this year are Sunburst - a flat squash style. A little less practical for cooking in some ways as they require some thoughtful cutting up, but the flavour is wonderful with a really nutty edge. Once ready to pick they look like flying saucers! 

Back to towards the house then and yet another space with tomatoes in it! In the foreground here though is mostly herbs - a beautiful tricolour sage bought on clearance from a favourite garden centre is loving life - I think I’ll find a more permanent pot to transfer that to before long. Parsley and basil are favourites although the parsley has struggled this year too - always a devil to grow from seed, we did finally get some plants but they aren’t really loving the weather I don’t think. The bright splash of yellows-green to the left is a bolted basil - I always let the first plant bolt to flower as it’s so popular with pollinators. The rhubarb is getting in on the action on the far left too - still producing more stems!  Honourable mention to the little watering can in front there - it was popped out on the windowsill in the communal space at the flat years ago - our “please take me” area for useful stuff no longer required by its original owner - and we gladly obliged. It’s a bit rusty inside but still very useful indeed! 

Finally then, looking across the area nearest to the house - an absolute mixture of stuff - more herbs, with the Lemon Balm in the trough being another garden centre rescue, there is a tarragon in there somewhere, another herb I love! The big purple pot has an elderly rosemary - that was brought with us from the flat. Strawberries - with this years runners starting to be potted up as well. I will pot on another two troughs-worth of those and then next year the original plants will probably be treated as spent and composted. Strawberries are great for providing their own replacements though! That pink geranium in the background has been a joy - it’s been flowering since not long after we bought it as a tiny plant - for anyone local reading this we buy our geraniums (and lots of other stuff) from Matthew’s Plants at Roydon - they absolutely never disappoint and the quality is superb.

There you go then - it’s not the biggest of gardens, I’d be the first to acknowledge, but we have packed a fair amount into it and the joy it brings is immense. The fact that it helps feed us well at this time of year is  the best thing about it - and makes the hard work worthwhile. Now though? Breakfast time..and that will NOT involve any home grown produce!

Robyn.