Succession in the veg garden

What a couple of days at Heale. A bright sunny day to crack on with planting out more Salad, sown only three weeks ago. Pak Choi and Rocket in the mix. HG suggested fleecing these to avoid holey leaves if the Flea Beetle fancies a light snack.

We also transplanted the rest of the Leeks once we had created space by taking down the Broad Beans. Leek 'Below Zero' and 'Little Nipper', some of which were ready to eat they had grown on so much. Quite a process from sowing seed months ago, to planting out in a holding bed and then transplanting.

The herb bed at Heale has gone a bit nuts so needs a bit of a tidy. Cutting back Rocket, Mint, Fennel. The scents all around you are wonderful when you work with Herbs.

We cropped Courgettes (yellow, green and stripy), beautiful tender young green Beans, Cucumber, Radish, Potatoes (First Early, 'Red Duke of York', red skin, yellow flesh). Wonderful stuff.

The Globe Artichokes are coming to an end. A beautiful vegetable. Apparantly it has one of the highest antioxidant property of any vegetable, so not just a pretty face.

Sweet peas have carried on giving. Since we did the business of laying down and tying in, HG has fed them. They continue with gusto. We removed side shoots and tendrils and cropped in the persistent rain this morning.

The rain continuing, there is the endless pot washing to contend with. Great once complete and a perfect task for a rainy day.

We sowed more Salad, ready in a few weeks to pop out in the garden. Misticanza 'Quatro Satgioni' and 'Miscuglio', Asolo mix, Wild Rocket. Yum.

Much to see in the garden, a bright yellow Cestrum, which was pointed out to me by an inquisitive Dutch visitor, who has seen the plant growing in an Orangery in Holland. Veronicastrum covered in Bees and looking weird like an Ox tongue when the flower has fasciated.

Rosa mutabilis looking simple and fine in the veg garden borders.

New plant of the week, HG showed me a beauty hovering along the riverbank in the Japanese garden. Heart shaped leaves and an erect white flower head, Houttuyinia cordata. We even found it IN the river. Native to Asia, it is eaten as a herb in Vietnam, described as 'Fishy'! A bit invasive so they say, watch out!

Vegetables galore

What a treat this time of year to crop so many lovely veggies. At Heale, mixed Radishes are pretty cool, ranging from white to purple. I must pick up some at home. We are now cropping our second early Pots - Belle de Fontenay - sounds so posh (!) and look so good and smooth skinned. The Courgettes are coming now, green and yellow as the Broad beans and Salads go. More salad on the way so we cleared and dug the plot again. Raked neatly and ready for the off again.

I spent an awful lot of time this week dead heading. I do love pruning, it can be so satisfying. Main work was with Roses and Peonies but also worked with Apples, summer pruning the stems to 1 bud past the basal cluster. Safe in the knowledge that your work will stimulate more growth and a better plant next season.

At Heale the herb and cut flowers areas are in full swing. I do love a good Fennel bed and Borage.

The veg garden looks really good now, everything is going really strong (including the dreaded weeds - my favourite being Purslane; totally flat and sprawling in growth and edible, I ate it and I am still here).

HG introduced me to a rogue that I had not planted in the cut flower section called Bupleurum, used in bouquets and flower arranging for structure. Similar looking to a Euphorbia.

I got to go on the mower at Heale this week cutting and sucking up Alchemilla mollis that grows amongst flagstones on the Terraces. Quicker than flipping cutting with Shears! Great fun and a reminder of how to use the mower! Lots of work to do in other areas. Sweet pea maintenance continues, feeding the greenhouse crops, edging and weeding, watering pots and veg plots.

Papadum and the chickens have been pootling about a lot, birds of prey circling overhead, visitors taking pix of me digging the soil, Bees buzzing down my shirt. Just an ordinary day in the life of a Gardener.

Sweet peas and super special visitors

At Heale this week BOTH of my sisters visited. Not unusual you might think but one of them lives in Australia and not been back for two years so this was super special for me! such a treat to show them around. They Loved it.

We worked with the Sweet peas this week, time to layer them down and train up the canes again. Quite a process which attracts a lot of attention from visitors. Many people think they are Peas or Beans and cannot believe that you can do what we are doing to a Sweet Pea! Removing every plant from its cane, laying down, removing tendrils and side shoots. Then laying along the ground and tying to a cane about 6 or so away. The whole process of flowering begins again. The plants look great when you are done, all refreshed.

I have really enjoyed the Sweet peas this year, at home and at work, such a glorious flower, delicate like silk with a heavy scent.

We also spent time cropping all that veg we have been working hard to produce. Broadies, Toms, Rocket, Salad, Carrots....some of the Carrots are so vibrant -Atomic Red- super on the plate.

The Courgettes are just beginning to come, a mix of green and yellow.

Much to see in the garden, Eremurus (Fox Tail Lillies) are strutting their stuff in the veg garden.

Romneya coulteri, I love this plant, a big fat yellow centre mimicking an egg, sitting atop a white  petal plate.

Gunnera is almost at full size, rising from the deep. Lunaria (Honesty) has gone to seed and looks just beautiful.

Thalictrum delavayi is trying to reach to the sun, a purple stemmed beauty, planted at Heale in a gravel border with tall grasses.

It has been hot but a gentle breeze and you appreciate the Stipa giganteum wafting and early doors the sound of the Sheep and a trickle of the river. Glorious.

Time to reap those rewards

The time has come to crop! Lovely veg that we have all been thinking about, planning, working towards since the Winter months. My work this week in several gardens has involved veg and fruit and even at my own plot, Broccoli, Carrots and Raspberries have been eaten. Our first Cucumbers are on their way.

At one of my gardens I focused on an important pruning job of shrubs which have just flowered, Forsythia, Weigela, Choisya, Ribes. Removing dead wood and old flowered stems, allowing the shrub to breathe again and become much less congested. A truly satisfying job. At this stage in the year, plenty of new growth is coming so you leave the plant in a happy fresh looking state, 'lifting it'.

At Heale we have been cropping like mad - Broadies, Peas, Beets, Salad, Herbs (wonderful selection including edible flowers of Borage and Nasturtium) Artichokes, Strawberries. Not to mention the ever beautiful and  quick growing Sweetpea - almost 500 this week!

We transplanted Leeks this week. We had sown the seeds back in March. Then when they break through and look like grass stems, hardened off, they can go out into a 'holding bed' until pencil thick. At this point they need transplanting to their final bed - make holes 8 inches deep, about 6 inches apart. The Leeks need top and tailing and then plop them into a hole and fill with water. I love this work!

The Leeks smell divine whilst you are topping and tailing.

The garden is looking full on now, everything is in full flow. Many visitors particularly enjoy the Alliums in the veg garden and cannot believe how big the Schubertii are.

Plant of the week? HG introduced me to a pretty Lily this week, wafting along the driveway to the house, doing it's own thing, spreading through the grass -Lilium martagon or Turk's Cap Lily.

Like pretty jewels amongst the grass. Or Plant of the week could easily be Rosa 'Paul's Himalayan Musk' which is doing as it should, rambling and arching elegantly in the Japanese Garden, showing it's best side right now.

Spoilt for choice.