http://www.franticgardener.org.uk Growing our own organically, in what precious time that we have, aided [sort of] by 2 children. This is year 5. Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:30:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en it has been so very very busy at work that i haven't had a day at home for 3 weeks. this is a bad thing for the garden, as well as a bad thing for me spending time with the family. grumpetty grump! So the clearing and organising hasn't happened yet. ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/09/17/planning-ahead/ i think there should be more of them :) Had lots of family visiting today, and niece in particular veru enthusiastic about picking and choosing veg for dinner. still loads of french beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and chard. curry was a hit :) also made a pasta bake [spares ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/08/29/bank-holidays/ we still have an abundance of courgettes, french beans and potatoes, but joined with an abundance of tomatoes, red peppers and aubergines. this is leading us to have a very mediteranean diet currently, with lasagne, pasta bake, stirfries, frittata, and aubergine moussaka. we are vegetarian so this is a good ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/08/23/adding-in-peppers-and-aubergines/ Actually, this isn't all we are harvesting and eating, but we are harvesting armfuls of beans, potatoes and courgettes so this is making up the preponderance of our meals! So far this week we have eaten: potatoe, courgette and french bean frittata with home grown salad leaves and tomatoes from the ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/08/17/courgettes-potatoes-and-french-beans/ we got back a week ago having been away for 3 weeks visiting relatives and seeing my cousin get married as well as visiting the rockies. Before we left I did a pretty good weed of the veg beds, put a straw mulch around the corn and squashes and topped ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/08/03/back-from-canada/ wow! this month we have had 1/3 of the annual rain. It has absolutely poured it down - which has been v good for the watering. Today, the weather has changed, just like a switch has been thrown. It is boiling/sweltering/hot hot hot!! And today was the day that I ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/06/26/change-in-weather/ I like the idea of square foot gardening, and liked the book, and our beds in leeds were 4 foot by 10 foot and often roughly square foot planted. But i can't be doing with all the mixing and stuff of his special compost, and tend to use soil. I ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/06/18/the-square-foot-bed/ ... but is now back up :) thank goodness :) my problem with june, is that once i start harvesting things i find it v difficult to plan some successional crops :) . we are harvesting enough now to have as ingredients for lunch and dinner, not just as snacks. The broad beans ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/06/18/the-blog-went-down/ My elder girl made jam today, with negligible help from me, just some health and safety supervision :) . We have one of those purple leaved wild cherryplums in the garden [and numerous little ones appear that we have to chase after, as wild and widespread as the elders] . ... http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/06/12/wild-cherry-plum-and-ginger-jam/ , a photo by Scrumbledelicious on Flickr.the omens are good for chilli and pepper harvest this year :) http://www.franticgardener.org.uk/index.php/2011/06/11/see-those-chillis/