More from out the front

This is the Leucospermum "Cape Gold" in full fig in the front garden. These are also known as Pincushion Proteas. And here is the latest from the rest of the front garden this weirdly warm spring.

Spinach

The English Spinach keeps growing faster than I can pick it. And there's only so much spinach you can eat. It's at it's best raw, when young, in salads or sandwiches. As it's grown larger I've sauteed off some garlic then quickly tossed through some leaves until just wilted. It's ok but you have to be fast because, unlike the Cavelo Nero, it turns to mush very quickly. Is it worth growing? Probably not.



Planted

Over this long weekend I planted out the entire summer crop. Ok then....
Seedlings
9 x Tomatoes: 2 x Sweet Bite, 2 x Grosse Lisse, 2 x Mortgage Lifter and 3 x Roma
6 x Eggplants: All Mini Lebanese
2 x Red Capsicum
2 x Chillies: 1 x Serano and 1 x Jalepeno

Seeds
Corn: Honeysweet, enough to end up with 16 plants once thinned.
Zucchini: Blackjack, enough to end up with 4 plants.
Pumpkins: Butternut, enough to end up with 4 plants.
Golden Nugget, enough to end up with 4 plants.
Cucumber: Lebanese, enough to end up with 4 plants.

There's not much to see in these pics so more on each of these soon....



Broad beans

The Early Long Pod broad beans have had masses of flowers on them for a long time now and I was wondering if they were ever going to set pods. They were planted on the 7th of June and today I noticed the first couple of pods, about 17 weeks later. There is a lot of conflicting information on plant and row space affecting the time it takes to set pods, mine are 150mm apart with rows 300mm apart. I now think that the timing is about right and it's purely a temperature thing. I've also read that cutting the growing tips encourages the pods to set. I've decided not to try this and see how they get on. Hopefully now they've started the first couple of pods will be followed by a lot more.



In a Pod

I resisted eating peas straight off the bush for a few days so today I could pick enough pods for a small bowl of very sweet peas. Steamed and eaten about five minutes after picking they were perfect.



Ready to go

It's nearly time for the main crop. I went to an agricultural supply place in Carlisle and got some 2400mm star pickets. These will be strung with wire to form a sort of cage for the tomatoes to grow in. I don't know why you can't get decent sized stakes from nurseries for tomatoes. They sell the seedlings knowing the stakes they supply wont be tall enough. Why? Anyway, this long weekend is planting time. 



Cavelo Nero

This is the first time I've grown Cavelo Nero, or Tuscan Black Cabbage, and I'm completely sold. I've been picking this for a couple of months now from just two plants and I can't keep up with the growth. It has a richer, nuttier tast than normal cabbage and is the stuff to use in Minestrone soup. Growing ball type cabbages is fine but they take ages to form and then you have to do something straight away with all that cabbage. Anything you can harvest over a long period is a boon for the backyard veggie patch.