It feels like a long time since I was last able to write about the Kitchen Garden and I am very excited to see that the fruit and vegetable season is beginning to take off. The warm spring meant an abundance of blossom and bees in the Kitchen Garden and I am now on the verge of beginning to harvest my biggest fruit crop yet from my relatively newly established plot.
Today I would like to welcome you in for a stroll around to see how things are progressing:
The lavender is growing well underneath the espaliered fruit trees and the first roses are just starting to flower. The pink that you can see is Gertrude Jekyll.
I love the anticipation at this time of year – whilst there is still bare soil to be filled with summer vegetables and cutting flowers, there is also so much that is just about ready to ripen!
These are the broad beans that I planted last November. It is not even the end of May and they are almost ready to eat! I kept them covered with a fleece tunnel throughout the winter and had nearly a 100% survival rate.
The garlic that was planted in December should be ready to harvest by the end of June. The potatoes were planted in March and are looking promising – I am hoping for a good crop of small new potatoes to eat with the fresh peas and broad beans throughout June.
The strawberries are growing well under their bird protection – I was able to sneak my first warm ripe berry whilst walking around taking these photos.
I am looking forward to harvesting my first gooseberries any day now. I have plans for gooseberry and elderflower fool, a muscatel cordial (made with gooseberries and elderflower) and, of course, gooseberry crumble.
I need to get some nets over these lovely redcurrants before the birds find them. Intensely flavoured red currant jelly is one of my favourite store cupboard makes.
I have been waiting for my peony beds to mature for what feels like a very long time. This year is the first time that these recently planted peonies have grown large enough to need supporting. The bed is now dotted with hazel posts and string run between the posts in a diamond pattern to give the stems something to lean against.
I have so many buds this year that I am optimistic about having a good crop – however todays heavy rain is bad news for the buds that are just opening. It is so frustrating that the peony and delphinium season always seems to coincide with heavy summer storms!
Also in the garden are raspberries and blackberries and lots of these promising looking pears:
I have sown crops of carrots, spinach and beetroot and in the greenhouse courgettes, squash and sweetcorn are waiting to be planted out. My first sweet pea flowered in the greenhouse yesterday and my garden crop is growing well, although I do not expect any flowers for a few weeks yet. The asparagus has been prolific this season and I can barely keep up with the rhubarb.
All in all it has been a great start to the 2014 season – it is hard to believe that it is already time to start planning to sow biennials and the first of the winter vegetable crops!
Insert your profile info here, by going to Users -> Your Profile -> Biographical Info. Profile image (avatar) comes from gravatar.com. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam faucibus ornare lectus nec cursus.
I love how organised your vegetable garden is Julie. I must hthink about some prtection for broad beans so I could plant earlier, mine were planted out in mid February and I’ve been harvesting for a couple of weeks; I like to pick them quite small while the beans inside are green and haven’t formed the white outer casing that I dislike intensely. The peonies look amazing, do show them again soon when they are all in flower. Christina
Your vegetable garden is so tidy and well-laid out. And everything looks so healthy too! Look forward to seeing your peonies flower!
So well organised, your vegetable garden is so well laid out and your crops look so inviting! I also look forward to seeing all your wonderful peonies!
A lovely review and great photos too, your red currants are very impressive and I am looking forward to seeing your Peonies in bloom.
Julie, I like how you’ve used hazel posts and string to create the diamond patterned support for your peonies. Like everyone else, I look forward to seeing your peonies in flower and hope the storms will not be damaging. Lovely garden! susie
Thank you for taking us along in your dreamy walk around your enchanted garden – I just spent a few blissful minutes away from my walls and grey skies. You are doing an incredible job, I am in total admiration of your hard work and gorgeous result.
I too love the anticipation of the vege garden on the brink of producing. Adore your Kitchen Garden and can tell how much work you must put in to keep it looking so lovely. I too strive to create a space where my veges and flowers can grow happily and where I can sit and soak it all up too 🙂