Ohh it's raining now

I have never cheered or wooped at the weather report before Monday.   After nearly 3 weeks with only so much as a sprinkle of rain (I speak in gardeners terms here)  we finally had a full day of rain forecast and it's kept raining.   Everything looks so green thanks to the rain and the butt is starting to slowly fill once more.   We lost access to the outdoor tap (long story) and I've been left watering everything with an Ikea bag full of milk bottles and watering can, so any rain is welcome.

I wish I had more things to update you about but work has got in the way for gardening.  All Al and I have managed is to pull a few weeds and horsetail out as we water.  Not exciting stuff nor anything to really make a good Friday photo.

Harvest wise we are almost ready to pick some of the peas and courgettes and in the first fruiting year the blackcurrant bush managed to produce about 40g of fruit.  I have no idea what to do with them so they are sitting ready in the freezer.  My grandparents love blackcurrant slices so they might go there :)

Waiting Around in the Sunshine

After a wonderful week on holiday it was about time we returned to some gardening!  There were the typical amount of weeds that needed sorting and hoeing out but after that there is only a lot to admire. A huge weed patch had grown at the same place the sweet williams should have grown.  Rather than wait and the weeds grow too strong I hoed the whole area so they will have to wait for next year.

 We are still at the waiting stage there are a lot of things going on but very little to harvest.  We came home to find that the little gems had bolted so have only had tiny harvest of lettuce so far.  The strawberry plants have not produced anywhere near as much fruit as last year however they were moved out of containers this spring. The only ones I have tasted tasted odd, almost musty so they went into a glass of pimm's.  I'm hoping these ones will taste better:

The tomatoes have finally recovered from their trauma of being left in their pots a bit too long.

 At one stage I thought I would be blogging about how badly they have done and it looked like there would be no tomatoes to enjoy this year.  Now I can see the first signs of flowers and the plants remain a lush green.  Al pointed out a tiny greenfly in the photo but I don't think it's anything to worry about. I spray the tomatoes with dilute washing up liquid which seems to help because I never seem able to attract ladybirds.

All the beans and peas have started flower, I have to confess that most of the varieties we are growing this year were bought because the seeds were reasonable rather than majestic looking blooms.   I'm glad I can see flowers because I was beginning to panic I'd left them too late to be able to enjoy a lengthy harvest but it's clear now that this will not be the case.

Do you remember me posting about how we cheated and bought plants after the late frosts?  Well the first courgette plant is beginning to show a tiny courgette which will hopefully be ready to eat soon. I always have a knack for forgetting to pick the flowers for stuffing until they are too open to stuff.  My favourite time is when they are ready with the tomatoes so they can be made into a light sauce or ratatouille.  This year it will be even sweeter if the red onions are ready at the same time.