Gardening Across The Generations

I can't tell you how chuffed I am at my garlic harvest this year. People had been telling me that they had already dug up their garlic and I had started to worry that I had left it too late, especially after the torrential rain this week, I thought I might just be left with a soggy mess but I have just lifted my garlic and I have 30 bulbs of pungent deliciousness.

With having quite a busy week, I have only this morning ventured out properly to see what is going on in my vegetable bed. My trips down to the bottom of my garden, have been either to water the tomatoes and chillies in the greenhouse or to pick the lettuce for the lunch boxes and if I am being honest, I have asked my boyfriend to do those jobs for me quite a few times, so the neighbours woke up to the sound of my oohing and ahhing and calling him to come and have a look at the various new arrivals of the vegetable variety.

I had a nice surprise when I saw what I thought would be climbing french beans scrambling up my sweetcorn, were in fact some sort of borlotti beans. That's the joy of getting seedlings from friends when they say 'do you want some ……..', and I never think to ask any details. We actually did a swap. I gave him some butternut squash and like him I didn't label them, just left them on his doorstep on my way to work.

The carrots look ready to harvest, so I think we will be having them tomorrow with our Sunday lunch of pork belly, my favourite.

My other surprise was my peas. Nothing to show for themselves last weekend and now proudly displaying their pods. I started them off in guttering this year and I don't think they have benefitted in any way from this way of sowing. I don't think they are any earlier and they certainly don't look any healthier or stronger.

Lettuce may be a crop to try next year in the guttering. Something with a shallow root run, I just don't think my peas liked their roots being all scrunched up. Still nothing ventured, nothing gained.

After reading a very worrying report on the glyphosate based herbicide Roundup this week, how trials of GM seeds are impregnated with Roundup and can resist the toxin without dying, means that this herbicide can live in the crops and ultimately land on your plate, I was reminded of the philosophy of the Native Americans.

They think about how their actions will effect the next seven generations. What a wonderful philosophy to live by.

I photographed Harry in the garden with his Granddad last weekend and it was lovely to see to joy and excitement coming from Harry as he had a little go with the fork.

I really think that people are turning towards the grow your own revolution, because they want to know that what they are eating is safe from chemicals and hopefully they also want to care for the land and preserve it for future generations and not forgetting the delicious flavour.

My lettuce tastes so much more like lettuce should than the shop bought bags. It kind of tastes a bit earthy (yes it has been washed) and as irritating as snails are, I am trying not to use so many slug pellets as the cat thinks they are treats when he hears the noise they make, as I get then out of the tube to sprinkle them about.

If only cats ate snails.

I wonder if French cats do?

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