Runner beans and nasturtiums making the garden look productive as well as pretty
For the first half of this calendar year, we were eating mostly green vegetables with a bit of rhubarb thrown in. That hasn’t changed much, since runner beans and cucumber are, well, green, too.
On the other hand, we have eaten a lot more home-grown fruit in the form of blueberries, blackberries and apples. And apart from the cucumbers, another new home-produced culinary experience has been naturtium flowers, which are a lovely orange colour.
Garlic has still been on the menu most days and I’ve loved the fresh parsley, particularly on homemade potato salad, not that the potatoes have been grown at home, on the whole. Potatoes take up too much room for a garden my size, so I’d rather grow stuff which is either harder to come by in organic form (okra being one such vegetable), or has added value such as being pretty (eg runner beans) and good for the bees (nasturtiums spring to mind).
Anyway, the average count over the last three months has been five portions of fruit, vegetables and herbs per day. That’s two up on the last quarter and shows that my garden is moving in the right direction.
© Helen Butt, September 2014
Loving what you’ve grown! If you don’t have much room for potatoes, have you thought about growing some in tyres? A friend of ours tried this and it seemed very successful 🙂
I’ve recently read somewhere else about that. I don’t know as I have room for tyres but that is something to think about when other parts of the garden are more established.
Thanks for your comment on my overall produce count 🙂
Well done, you! I agree, if one is limited on space, it’s hard to justify taking up valuable real estate for potatoes when they are cheap and easy to get, unlike some of the other goodies we choose to grow. Cheers, Ben
Thank you, Ben. The organic farm near me does potatoes aplenty but reserves the more interesting vegetables for its Community Supported Agriculture members. The last time I had a cucumber from there was about three years ago.
I am impressed on how much you have had success with in your garden this year. You hard such a late start this year. I guess that is not totally accurate you actually have a great fall/winter garden. It shows how successful it can be to have double planting a year.
Honey
Yes, it depends on the crops and the weather in a given year. I don’t think two rounds of tomatoes would be possible where I live but certainly with cool weather vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce there is no difficulty. I’m particularly pleased that a second marrow is growing. I think it will be smaller than the first, in view of the fact that there is probably only about a month of reasonable growing weather left, but it will be interesting to see if this is true as well 🙂
I had planned to have a fall crop this year but my health prevented me from even attempting it. It is nice to see how successful that you have been. I agree weather and crops make the difference. Keep posting your progress because is it educational and interesting to see your progress.
Honey
I’m pleased to hear you find value in my posts, Honey. Thank you for the positive feedback. On the other hand, I am sorry your health is preventing you from carrying out your garden plans and possibly getting in the way of other aspects of your life.
Thanks for your concerns regarding my health. I just spent the day taking tests at the hospital. The only results is the need for even more test. Hopefully by next spring I will be able to work in the garden again.
Honey
I hope so!