Yer Actual Veg Patch

Digging has commenced in the veg patch during the 6 blog-free weeks.  It is so noticeable that we missed a year, with having no tools, and losing all the plants last year.  The weeds are proper well established, m’loves, and the dreaded “Devil’s Guts” are ubiquitous, damn their eyes.

The girls and I have weeded out a raised bed each 

– the warmest ones at the north end of the patch – and I have planted parsnips, beetroot, carrots, lettuces and radishes.  

As always, the radishes are first up.  The effing pigeons have been very helpful in thinning them out (gits), 

so I have netted them 

– we’ll see if this dissuades the bastards, or if they just decide to limbo under the wire and get stuck in.  They are big, fat-breasted wood pigeons, who nest outside the bedroom window and coo like bloody bellows at sparrow-fart, but my Dad says I’m not to shoot them.  Not sure I could, anyway, even though I was sorely tempted when they ate all my purple-sprouting broccoli MINUTES before I was going to harvest it, back in 2010.  Actually, I COULD shoot them, but then I’d have to eat them and we’d probably all get lead poisoning from the pellets or something horribly karmic like that. 

The only greenhouse things I’ve planted out so far are three broad beans, which are not looking all that fabulous, to be honest.  

I planted them just before we went away for a week, as they were far to big to be left in the greenhouse.  But as a result, they didn’t get a lot of water in their first week, and I didn’t get chance (aka I forgot) to harden them off before planting out, so it’s quite surprising they’re still struggling on.  Never mind – there’s a tray of 20-odd hardening off at the moment, plus 20-odd peas and mange-touts.  Come to think of it, maybe that Victory geezer did know what he was talking about….

Other than that, the raspberries are looking healthy – doesn’t seem to be much difference between the ones I experimentally cut right back and the ones I experimentally left gangly, so we’ll see what happens at fruit time.  Hopefully, lots, because I’m already dreaming of raspberry jam, raspberry vodka, and little tiny fairy cakes with a raspberry hidden inside each one…  Slurp!  O, meanwhile, is just dreaming of eating her way along the row, so I will have to tether her to the trampoline with a long rope.  The globe artichoke is also coming up nicely again, even though it had a second cycle last year.  I do wish I’d put it in a border somewhere – it is such a stunning plant and my borders are, frankly, rubbish.  At some point I’m going to stick loads of veg in the borders – artichokes, rhubarb – all that big, architectural stuff.  Just a matter of getting around to it.  Ah, the rhubarb is looking a bit better this year, too – it’s never been very good, but this could be its year.  Come on, rhubarb – you can do it!