Edible successes
Because I didn’t know when I’d get into the garden or the greenhouse this year there’s not been much planning happening – but I did have a vague idea I wanted a ‘potager’ style productive area with cut flowers and vegetables all thrown in together. So I bought a mix of plug plants and I’ve been slotting them in fairly randomly – some in pots, some in the raised beds, and some in the greenhouse. Amazingly, given this haphazard approach, a lot of the veggies have been pretty successful – except I keep forgetting to harvest them. But I’m making a note of these successes here so I can make a more informed plan in 2022.
First up is the combination of cut and come again lettuce with Tagetes tenuifoila ‘Red Gem’ in a terracotta pot. Super simple but they’ve both exploded in just a couple of weeks and the pot gives me so much joy to look at (if not actually anything to eat – but that’s only because I keep forgetting to pick the leaves). The Tagetes smells completely divine – in fact when I first moved the seedlings into the greenhouse they filled it with THE most garden-y, fresh, summery scent. And of course the flowers are edible, and actually on long enough stems that they would work in a little vase.
Next is the carrot seed I bought as a tape from Sarah Raven. The seed is held in dissolvable paper so you just plant it and then you have a perfectly spaced and satisfyingly straight line of plants. I only had to thin a couple out. The rest are looking bushy and fern-like, although I’ve yet to pull any up.
In the raised bed my runner beans are twining up the string tepee at an unbelievable rate. I bought the variety ‘Firestorm’ largely on the basis of the red flowers, which in fact I’ve picked more than the actual beans. But they’ve been extremely productive and look very pretty. Only slight negative is the tepee takes up quite a lot of room in the bed, and the space underneath it is pretty shaded now the beans are at the top. Good for lettuce though, I suppose, which bolts too quickly in direct sun. I’ve got more Tagetes under there as well to keep the aphids away.
Lastly are the miniature cucumber plants in the greenhouse. These have also done surprisingly well and produced definite cucumber-like fruit, although they are an absolute magnet for aphids and the plants are already pretty top-heavy and unwieldy, even with support. I don’t think we’ve enjoyed eating the cucumbers enough to justify their place in the greenhouse – they’re just not very attractive plants. And the greenhouse is just too beautiful. Soz.