So the garden here in our rural Southwest home continues to grow well. We have had some hiccups due to getting such a late start but at the moment its producing food which was our main aim. The rain that has been non stop has caused a number of blight related issues that took out my tomatoes, and potatoes at blindingly quick speed. But there's another post on that after this as it would take up a lot of space.
However not all is as grim as it could be. We continue to have a vibrant space teeming with life to take our time in and potter about. The slope of the iron age hill fort our home is built into was once all ivy, but now after careful sowing is covered in the wild flowers we planted. The bees love it. On some afternoons when the suns out it almost sounds like a bee hive just due to the amount we have here. We also get other random garden guests from time to time.
Outside of our potato and tomato tragedy, everything else is booming and blooming. The purple beans are coming along a treat and the squashes just keep producing more than we know what to do with. I've been blanching and freezing what we don't eat. But it's been a worth while endeavour.
I had to take the steps out and fix them up a bit. I almost fell flat on my face one evening due to how loose the rocks had become. So it was a rip it all out and rebuild sort of job.
One of the joys of having all this food around is how easy it is to go check the garden while deciding what dinner is going to be. Here in the UK we have to make the most of our summers, and having fresh vegetables on hand to go with whatever meat you have is always a plus. We harvested our onions and I'm prepping their old bed for winter vegetables now. It was nice to get a decent yield off of them.
Courgettes are always fun to cook with. One of my favourite things to do with them is as follows:
- Slice them in half and hollow them out part way removing the seeds.
- Chop up a couple of large tomatoes, and finely chop up some garlic, lemon thyme, and fresh oregano.
- Reduce the tomatoes, and herbs down to a chunky sauce.
- Coat the courgettes in olive oil, and salt and place on a baking tray.
- Fill the courgette boats with the sauce, and top with cream cheese or mascarpone cheese.
- Oven roast at around 180 degrees Celsius for thirty minutes.
The end result is an amazing way to eat these wonderful squashes. There's a lot of ways to cook them, but making them where they have non slimy texture really brings out the best flavours.
The main reason we began our whole gardening project was for the production of food. However what we have had happen is a rewarding space where we as a household can take those quiet moments, and just enjoy our natural surroundings. It's not uncommon for the dog to just walk out of the house in the evenings to go sit under her apple tree, or to come out and find some small surprise guest on the flowers or in the weeds. As far as investment goes it has been a huge win despite the set backs we have had.
Well guys if you made it this far thanks for reading. The documenting our garden space here on hive is something I'm continuing to work on when time permits. I've got more posts including some of our fails in drafts now so there will be more to come. Thanks again, and as always looking forward to your future posts and projects. :)
image credits: my ipad and yard.
It all looks wonderful and a relaxing place to be! My garden is only fit for tough indigenous plants and succulents and there are times when I envy the lush English country gardens but we don't have the water resources for that
Thank you for giving a read. Yeah the wet weather here is a blessing and a curse. It helps for most things, but can set one at odds with different types of fungal blight which can devastate the best growing efforts. As backwards as it sounds I'm hoping my winter crops preform better than my summer ones as I got a late start this year on my summer garden. Thanks again for popping by. :)
@nikv have you tried wicking beds?
@riverflows, the sad fact is that even with adequate water, many things just roast in the sun. Indigenous shade will take some years to re-establish because I took out all the trees, which are listed invasives here and were causing troubles of their own, like sucking all the available water, breaking down walls and waging chemical warfare against other plants and of course we should remove them. The Yucca is next on my hit list: I think it was you who said what a water-sucker it is
Now, remind me again of where in the SW you are? I felt so teary and homesick reading this, as you described a uniquely British garden with slow worms and hill forts!!! Plus.. courgettes. My sister in law in Somerset adores them. Yummy recipe...I can't wait til zucchini season and am planting different varieties this year. The onions look moreish too. Fabulous to connect again!
I'm not to far from Avebury. Out down a single track middle of nowhere lane with less than a dozen neighbours in a quiet little farm house. We moved out here right at the start of the last lockdown to get space from people, which so far has worked. Funny you mentioned Somerset as we were down there today. We were right outside of Crewkerne visiting the little villages and antique shops down that way more or less mucking about. Somerset can be rough in some market towns, and absolutely beautiful out in the villages and rurals. Lots of little hidden gems to explore. How have you been keeping over on your side of the world my friend? All well in the world of @riverflows?
I'm sorry to hear about your potatoes and tomatoes. 😞 I've been terrified of my tomatoes suffering a similar fate due to irregular weather at the moment and quite a few excessive downpours.
That recipe looks delish!! 😊
The blight came it so quick it caught me off guard. I thought I'd have a clean year this year without getting nailed by it, but sadly no dice. Ho hum I suppose. I'm thinking next year of trying copper wire implants on the stems, and a weak peroxide water solution to keep it at bay. I hear that works. Thank you for stopping by and giving the post a read. :)
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You have made a beautiful paradise there. I love that shot of your dog - it's majestic.
Thank you. She is a pretty old girl. Sadly she knows it so there's a lot of posing majestically by the dog in our household. Lol.