Garden visitors

In digging up the garden I've been having a few guilty pangs as I disturb a few residents. Mattocking away I found these chaps burrowed down in the soil. Fortunately they survived the ordeal. I still haven't identified the exact bumble bee species, but she was huge, about an inch and a half long. The other, it turns out, is a going to turn into an elephant hawk moth. I hope I get to see it after the metamorphosis.

Middle-aged post alert

Spring means a vague attempt by me to grow some veg. I'm fairly black-thumbed so it's always a miracle when I manage anything edible at all. It's not going so badly so far though.

Plum tomato and gherkin seedlings in my mini-windowsill greenhouse.

Orange bell pepper and fuego chilis. I've forgotten which plants are which though...

My chilis and sweet peppers from last year are miraculously still going strong, and flowering already, despite a hefty pruning whereby I chopped about 4 feet off the top.

My heavily-pruned cherry tree blossoming in the yard. Last year it produced the grand total of one cherry at mum and dad's house whilst they were tree-sitting, which was promptly stolen by a bird. I'm hoping for at least two this year.

 

 

Taters just planted out at the front, plus other bits and bobs.

Only half of my sugar snap peas have germinated thus far...

I *think* these are carrots.

My courgettes haven't died yet. There's still time.

Wild strawberry plant (back) I stole back from my yarden in Birmingham, plus a new normal one (front) donated by Mother Goodchild, my source for all things seedy.

So, fingers crossed for a bountiful summer. If I manage to eat any of it I reckon I'm on to a winner.

The Concrete Jungle

This year I've been attempting to do a better job than I've previously managed in producing edible goods. With a tiny concrete yard this is problematic, but armed with a magical self watering thing kindly given to me for my birthday last year, I seem to be doing okay-ish.

At the side I've got a rogue tomato plant I started growing indoors, but had to put outwhen I buggered off on holidays. It went a bit mad and I'mhaving to support it on our broken washing line. Look - it even has some actual tomatoes, which is a great improvement on my fruit-light-foliage-rich effort from last year!

The tomato plants at the back are just mental. They keep collapsing under their own weight and I've had to rig up a ridiculous string support system. Same goes for the runner beans, which are actually starting to be real beans. Not sure I'll have enough to make this fabulous stuff though.

I thought I'd try something different alongside the standards, so I planted some patty pan squash, which are HUGE and starting to flower.

I also found some potatoes trying to become a new lifeform in the back of my kitchen cupboard so decided to plant them. It's a bit late in the season, but I've already hilled them a bit and they seem to be doing okay.

Meanwhile, indoors, my chili and pepper plants are going for it. The chili is nearly three feet tall. Here's hoping for spicy goodness.