Today, I went to the garden to see what's happening there after more than a week of freezing temperatures. I was expecting a lot of damage as it was snowing a couple of days ago, but I was surprised to see that everything survived and it's even looking good!
I was planning to look around and go home as we're going to be working in the garden tomorrow, but I met a few of our neighbours who talked so much like we didn't see each other for years. After a while I excused myself as otherwise I would still be there 😊
Let's see what is new in the garden!
First I opened the bubble wrap covering our raised bed and what I saw looked like a jungle. The radishes grow extremely well this year and although a few of them are damaged by some bugs that I couldn't find there is still much more than we need right now. The bulbs are super big, and I took quite a few back home with me. I also kept the green parts as it makes delicious pesto. You can mix it with some garlic, olive oil, lemon, walnuts and nutritional yeast, stir some pasta in it and you have a delicious and nutritious dinner.
Our lettuce grew much more than expected. I had no idea that one week could make such a difference. I watered it well before we went on a trip and the soil is still moist as it was cold.
I couldn't resist taking some of it home too. I sow the seeds close to each as we don't want to wait until the leaves become big because we like the young tender leaves much more. We pick the outer leaves and leave the 'heart', so that it can continue to grow.
Have you tried baking radishes in the oven? If not, then you should because they are delicious. Use some olive oil, maple sirup, salt and pepper and bake them until soft. You can thank me later 😊
Last week, there were flowers on our red currant bushes and I thought that they would all fall off with all the wind and cold, but they are much stronger than I thought and now we have our first berries. Well, we need to wait for about a month before we can eat them, but they are there and this is what counts.
We will also have plenty of wild strawberries. Last year, there were a few, but they spread quickly and this year there are many more. We don't grow normal strawberries because of the slugs, so I'm happy to see the wild ones spreading nicely.
Look how beautiful our quince tree is right now...
The chives are about to flower too. The flowers are delicious and also pretty, so you can add them to your salads. Or you can leave them on the plant to go to seed and a year later you will have more chives.
The lamb's lettuce has these tiny white flowers that will go to seed too. I will remove the plants soon and plant carrots instead. Carrots like to be planted next to garlic, and garlic also deters bugs damaging carrots, so it's a nice coexistence.
Tomorrow, we will build a construction to support the pea plants as they are falling over already. I will also remove the grain (it's not grass) and the stones that we used to keep the cover in place when the plants were small.
Raspberries are coming too! They are spreaders as well, so we should keep them under control, but we love raspberries, and this year we let them take over whatever they want, however we will see next year if it will be needed to control them.
We have three varieties of mint and unfortunately they are planted directly in the soil (by the former owner), so they spread like crazy. They don't reach the part of the garden with vegetables, so we keep it as it is, but we will need to take an action soon as otherwise we will only have mint in the garden. Mint roots deep and it's a nightmare to remove, so you should not plant it directly in the soil, but rather in a container.
This is some kind of an allium, but I'm not sure which one. We didn't have it last year, so I guess it's from some neighbour's garden. I like it, so I will keep it for now.
We have a few forget me nots in the garden too. Some people eat the flowers, but I have read some negative information too, and we don't harvest it.
This is some sort of a cornflower which spreads quickly, hence I remove them as soon as they stop flowering, so that they don't go to seed. Now, I realize that we have plenty of invasive plants in the garden 😊
The back of the garden is full of lilies of the valley. They are highly poisonous and can be mistaken for wild garlic. They have just started flowering and soon there will be tons of them.
The bluebells spread by bulb offsets, and I can clearly see that we have more of them than we had last year. I love their colour, so I just let them do their thing...
I hope that this little friend was laying some eggs. Last year, I had a problem with aphids on the roses and as ladybugs feast on them it's always good to see them around.
This is a bit out of the concept, but I love this fern. The way it grows is fascinating. At some point it looks like a seahorse and then it slowly opens up to its characteristic form.
As the weather is getting better we will be spend more and more time in the garden, and I can't wait to share our work with you.
Happy gardening!