The Patch
24th June 2005
The Garden View
On this day, early in the morning, the very hot and sunny week we just had was about to come to an end. Dark, black storm clouds were sweeping up from the horizon and little flecks of water were falling on me as I went outside this morning.
A Garden Has Many Uses
This photo, taken the day before, shows just how many uses a garden can have - for growing food, for making a garden look bright and cheerful, for providing an education for children, to provide homes for wildlife... and for drying out swimming costumes. Apparently, it worked well. Alan Titchmarsh take note...
Determined Beans
The Gardening Volunteers had been going out most lunchtimes over the past scorching week to give the plants their much-needed water. The new bottle-roses we had bought meant that an army of volunteers could drench the garden in less than 20 minutes. With the storm approaching, they wouldn't need extra water on this day.
The Will Beans
A close up of how determined our beans plants are to produce lots of runner beans. First comes the flower, then the bee visits and pollinates it, and then the beans begin to grow. There are a lot of flowers, so it should follow that we will have a lot of beans. Watch this space...
Untouched
A fear I had was that this sweetcorn plant, which looks like a grass (in fact it is a type of grass), would be very tempting to the rabbit who still visits us every day. I was wondering if it would disappear one day. But luckily, so Ms S. tells me, it is only interested in the carrots on the compost heap and the Honesty plants we have pulled up. As long as it stays that way, Mr Rabbit!
Popeye Drools...
Our Spinach, the power-inducing favourite of Popeye the Sailor, is growing very well. Again, it has survived the jaws of the rabbit and it will grow into a very healthy plant. I like Spinach a lot, but there will probably be lots to go round.
The New Radishes
This line of Radishes, planted by the volunteers some weeks ago, is growing well. Let's see if we can get around to eating this lot.
The Old Radishes
You have to be quick to pick radishes at the right time. In the blink of an eye they will turn from succulent tasty salad treats into hot, peppery, tough roots. These are way past their use by date. The only place for them now is the compost heap. Shame. Mind you, for those who like very hot food, do ask...
The Only Way Is Up
So far the onions have grown well, although only upwards so far. We're still waiting for the bit when they start to fill out at the bottom and turn in to huge onions ready for the table.
Giants Or No Giants?
The sunflowers have settled in well, although when I looked closely at them on this day, they seemed to already have flower buds showing. This means that they will not grow much taller than this. However, they will still look good.
A Tasty Treat?
I do wonder if Mr Henman and Mr Murray will ever eat strawberries again after their defeats at Wimbledon. They love strawberries there. I thought I would love these ones too, as it was the first time I was able to get one that hadn't been eaten by slugs first. Mr S. laughed as my face screwed up and I tried to get them out of my mouth. They tasted horrible and sour. Perhaps I just had a bad one?
Garden Domination
You can always rely on the Nasturtiums to grow well and try, once again, to take over the garden (then the whole school, the village, the county, the country and finally the world? We may laugh about it now...).
