The last of the summer
It's been a bit of a so-so summer this year, with a rather slow start despite a very early week of glorious sun. Earlier in the year I had little faith that my annual tomato crop would come to much but Mother nature knows better than me and late into October I've been picking bowls and bowls of scarlet and gold tomatoes, tiny red and yellow cherry toms and big many layered Marmondes and the darker Black Russians, their very ugliness a delight.
Since giving up the allotment most of my growing is in pots around the back door, or occasionally in the garden border. To be honest, I certainly manage to produce enough to feed two hungry people with plenty left over and although watering can sometimes be a chore during dryer spells, at least I can do this with a glass of wine in hand and within easy reach of something simmering on the stove. I found a range of seeds from Thompson & Morgan picked especially for the urban gardener. Whilst we are not urban as such, these varieties selected for their smaller compact nature suited my new style of gardening. Alongside the chillies mentioned in my last post I also grew some sweet peppers from seed with great success. These Sweet Ingrid peppers were pretty prolific and had beautiful black-red fruits that are very tasty. Best of all they seemed to be immune to the usual pests that had bothered my previous plants. Next year I hope to try some more from the same range of seeds. Still the clocks have gone back and it's dark early again, so the last few days have been spent clearing away the remains of these summer plants after our first frost. I always feel a little sad at this time, I've looked at these plants almost every day for the last few months and even say hello to the garden spiders who stretch their webs across the last remaining leaves from September. Still, only a few dark months and soon I'll be watching the tiny shoots emerging from my next set of plants.
Since giving up the allotment most of my growing is in pots around the back door, or occasionally in the garden border. To be honest, I certainly manage to produce enough to feed two hungry people with plenty left over and although watering can sometimes be a chore during dryer spells, at least I can do this with a glass of wine in hand and within easy reach of something simmering on the stove. I found a range of seeds from Thompson & Morgan picked especially for the urban gardener. Whilst we are not urban as such, these varieties selected for their smaller compact nature suited my new style of gardening. Alongside the chillies mentioned in my last post I also grew some sweet peppers from seed with great success. These Sweet Ingrid peppers were pretty prolific and had beautiful black-red fruits that are very tasty. Best of all they seemed to be immune to the usual pests that had bothered my previous plants. Next year I hope to try some more from the same range of seeds. Still the clocks have gone back and it's dark early again, so the last few days have been spent clearing away the remains of these summer plants after our first frost. I always feel a little sad at this time, I've looked at these plants almost every day for the last few months and even say hello to the garden spiders who stretch their webs across the last remaining leaves from September. Still, only a few dark months and soon I'll be watching the tiny shoots emerging from my next set of plants.
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