Heaven is Homegrown

Broad beans, broccoli (calabrese), carrots and sweet smelling sweet peas...mmm!

- don't they just look perfect? So proud am I.

Tonight we enjoyed a herby spatchcock chicken accompanied by the freshest and most perfect (-well I would say that) carrots, broad beans and broccoli (calabrese)...mmm...divine. I have come the swift conclusion that when you eat 'fresh as it comes' vegetables you are getting the life energy of the vegetable. The ions are still bouncing about and the rigor mortis (-for want of a better term) has not set in. The purest transfer of energy from the ground to ones own being. There definitely is a lightness to the taste.. ooo! and virtually none of the vitamins are lost to the drawer at the bottom of the fridge. I could go on. But I think you get the point. The joys of freshness. The smell of sweet peas..aah! bliss!

I wasn't sure how to harvest the calabrese actually. Obviously I cut off the head to eat but I'm not sure whether I should let it grow on or whether I'm to pull out the rest of the plant and bung it in the compost? Ever the optimist I shall leave it and see if more perfect heads shall form.

I have planted two types of beans on a tepee where the raspberries failed. One variety is French climbing purple and the other is French round safari. I wasn't really thinking when I bought them whether they were dwarf or not. I pretty sure now I've googled that the safari variety are dwarf... I wonder if they are compatible with each other? I planted them alternately around a tepee of bamboo. I have no idea how tall the safari will grow (-more googling necessary!) I decided to split up the poached egg plants and dotted them around the plot too. I also sowed a new shorter (18") row of French Breakfast Radish along side the raspberries and some Flakee carrots in the carrot bed were the carrots had failed to show before.

It really is a joy to be at the plot now.

1st Carrot Crop Ever!

The pale carrots are rainbow variety, middle ones rothild and flakee on the right.

I had the help of my under-gardener today to pull some of our carrots. "Wow wee!" he said as they lifted easily from the ground. I shall have to remind him of this day when he's older, how he happily pulled his first carrot from the ground before he was two years old. 

I planted three late varieties - Flakee, Rothild and Rainbow and the all seem to have grown equally good. Inconclusively the longest carrot was one of the Rainbow variety, a pale coloured carrot which tasted very faintly of parsnip - unless it's colour was playing tricks on my senses? Generally they have grown straight which is testament to the hard work I put in removing stones at the beginning. Gotta love the carrot that looks like it's walking though !!

I felt good leaving the lottie under the rising full moon with our first crop of anything! Especially as I've been feeling so ill the last week; exhausted from work I've had a bad cold, an eye infection and then finally my larynx gave in and now I have no voice. It means no digging this week sadly! When am I going to get the raspberries in?