

Going through town I stopped for a chat at a market stall that is run by a local farming family. Needless to say they sell vegetables that they grow on their own farm and, if they do not have enough of a variety to crop and bring to the stall that week, they buy from their local farmer friends. The fruit that they sell is locally grown where possible, the exceptions being things like bananas. To attract custom my friend has a habit of shouting “home grown bananas”. Now if anyone believes that one! He had healthy looking Brussels Sprouts for sale that he has grown but he was telling me that he had been reading an article in a trade magazine about sprouts being grown in Scotland and then being transported to Poland for processing before, yes you guessed it, being shipped back to the UK for sale. Has the world gone mad?
He also had some great parsnips for sale so I decided to buy some for home. “You don’t mind buying the dirty one, do you?” was the question. No I don’t but apparently they have to hose some off because there are those who will not buy root crops that still have any sign of the soil on them. I am old enough to remember when all vegetables were sold that way.
We are so lucky to have a market stall to shop for vegetables where they have been grown locally and travelled just a few short miles to the table. Also here is a second generation that have kept up the farm started by their parents and have learnt skills by experience and know their land. With farms closing down every week it makes you wonder how long small farms such as these will be able to continue.
If you have any spare room in your garden or even landscaped try growing a few vegetables for yourself. It can be frustrating but more often than not it is very rewarding and very satisfying.
I strolled out into the garden to check what tasks needed to go onto the list of things to do and, although I have seen it before, I was amazed to see several eruptions in the garden. There is no other way to describe it. The awful Honey Fungus has decided that the time is right to send up its toadstools. One day there is nothing and the next there is this mass of toadstools so strong that they push anything in their path out of their way. Digging down to remove the horrors I found that it was living on and reproducing from bits of Silver Birch root still in the ground from when the Boot Lace Fungus destroyed the tree.
It is sad to read an article in The Daily Telegraph saying that gardening makeovers are being blamed for the rise in orphaned hedgehogs. The article states that Dr Toni Bunnell, who runs a sanctuary in York, has taken in dozens of baby hedgehogs this summer, many more than usual. It seems that mass makeovers where everything is cleared before creating a new garden is disturbing the families, the mother runs but the young get left behind. Sometimes it is difficult to get the balance right but if the new garden has planting that will encourage and help the wildlife then perhaps it is worth it but if the resulting new garden is neat, tidy and sterile then that is another matter. We gardeners need the wildlife just as much as the wildlife need our gardens as a way to navigate around their territory. If a six lane motorway was built across one of our favourite walks with no obvious way around we would get upset. This is what it must be like for the likes of a hedghog that forages for food one day and the next finds some of its prime food locations unaccessible.
This weekend I picked all the remaining tomatoes, all shades from green to light orange. The good news is there is enough to make some tomato chutney. Cannot wait!
Also the Runner Beans have come out. We tried to eat some of the remaining beans but they were a bit hard and stringy. Still, there is always next year. one of the great things, to my mind anyway, about growing your own vegetables is that you get educated once more into eating vegetables that are in season for your country or region. I am old enough to remember when we had to eat what was grown locally and in season and did not eat so much imported fruit and vegetables. Personally I would like to see more people with a bit of spare ground or space learning how to vegetable garden for each month and season or just to buy vegetables in season locally. It gives you something to look forward to and the food seems more enjoyable.
· UniqueDaily.com – Fat Hedgehog Gets Stuck Through Hole - Either way this poor hedgehog was left in a most humiliating position when he managed to wedge himself firmly in this hole in a garden wall. Animal rescuers were called out to help the hapless animal which became wedged in a hole, ...
· Vegetables in Season in September | Womens Nook - List of vegetables in season in September in
When you go away on holiday in the height of summer it is always a worry that friends or neighbours cannot get round often enough to keep up the watering. Everyone is busy and they cannot be expected to lavish all the love and care that you would yourself. One of the good things about taking a vacation this time of the year is that most things will survive well enough with a watering every other day. This has been the case with my week away rambling in the wilds enjoying the fresh air.
The birds have had to ...<< MORE >>
It is not so long ago that I made an entry in my diary giving an opinion on the tomato varieties that I have grown this year. At the time I stated that I would grow more of the same next year, this being Harbinger and the plum variety Red Alert. I have changed my mind and will only be growing Harbinger next season.
So what has changed?
Harbinger has proved to be the best cropper by far and in my opinion Harbinger has the better flavour. In addition Harbinger tomato plants have proven to be much healthier.
The blackbirds have disappeared as they usually do at this time of the year to moult. I spotted one in one of my rhododendrons and he hardly had a feather left on his head.
The great news on the bird front is that we have more sparrows this year that we have had for a very long time. They are doing their best to eat me out of bird seed but I have no complaints. Flocks of them arrive on mass and disappear together. I hear them in the bushes near the feeder waiting for a refill. Their numbers suddenly declined dramatically one winter and it has taken years for them to make a comeback. The funny thing is, last winter was the harshest we have had for many years and yet it is this summer that we have had the biggest increase in numbers. Long may it continue.
For the first time ever I have had problems with caterpillars on my salad crops grown under cover. I recognised the caterpillar of the cabbage white but I must confess my ignorance when it comes to identifying the other thug. Whatever it was it had a voracious appetite!
This autumn I must give some thought to my vegetable garden layout. I have already made some alterations that will help next years crops which has entailed cutting back shrubs and trees that had put on more than expected growth due to good growing conditions.
My begonia hanging basket is looking good at last. For the first time this year I have grown tuberous begonias from seed that are recommended for baskets and containers, having only grown the fibrous rooted varieties from seed. They have taken a while to reach flowering size but the wait has been worth it. Hopefully I can over winter the tubers and have earlier flowers and a cheaper hanging basket next year.