I really enjoy being up at Haddock's.
It has that old codger, make do, ramshackle, feel about it. I feel as if I should pepper my writing with 'ooh aahs', and 'thees' and 'thous'.
Just look at those red cabbages, and those red onions, and those tomato plants; wonderful. And in the background my courgette plants are not far off flowering. Elsewhere some pumpkin seeds that I saved from a 2014 Halloween gift are now romping away, and I have a few tiny peppers forming. I am also eating the red onions as spring onions.
Of course I ought to be out there weeding and hoeing but my excuse is a bad back, and it's also bloody hot.
All our early cherries were eaten by birds, but our strawberries are looking good and we have red currants.
I think I mentioned before that I'd planted a few self-sown lettuce plants in between the onions (you might just see them), they're not the world's best but when cut they regrow, and if left to flower the seeds automatically sprout the following year; no idea of the variety, but they're a great addition to the garden, and entirely free. This is one above; the inner leaves have slight reddish tinges.
So this is now our daily lunch. A bit of salad, a spring onion, tomato (not ours yet), and maybe a couple of Richard's hard-boiled eggs. From now-on, we try to eat only what we grow; give it another couple of weeks and we'll be self-sufficient until winter.
Sounds like a healthy diet. No pres, addits or colourings in your diet. Yummo.
ReplyDeleteNever had any inclination to "grow my own", but seeing your neatly ordered rows in Haddocks, makes me appreciate the immense satisfaction it must bring you. Everything you show us always looks so delicious, and must taste so much better than the "EU correct" fruit and veg we buy. That's if you can find any taste at all.
ReplyDeleteMore power to your "digging" elbow, Cro !
The best bit is that it all comes from less than 100 metres away, and is always there on call.
DeleteIt's amazing how quickly everything grows once it gets going - it looks a picture Cro - I love the simplicity of summer eating - I only have a few salad leaves ready for eating so far.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising how few salad leaves I pick for lunch. I sowed what we call here 'mesclun', which is a mixture of about 5 different varieties; all which re-grow when cut.
DeleteGood job there! I think we'll be another month until we are at the same point, I was plantinglots of my winter veg last night, I love ghinking about the meals It'll provide in many months time.
ReplyDeleteI've just started to sow things like Kale, Cavolo |Nero, Sprouts, etc. Delights to come.
DeleteLooking good.
ReplyDeleteLooks pretty weed free to me, but I seem to have "lost it" with my weeding this year. You are ahead of us. Like you I can't wait for the tomatoes. if I grew nothing else I would grow them for the superior flavour. Those red cabbage are looking good. send me a couple over will you as I haven't grown any this year?
ReplyDeleteI've 'lost-it' with the onions, but I don't really see that as a problem.
DeleteThere is nothing as good as the feeling one gets when eating all one's own produce rather than buying in second rate stuff - even that on our very good market is not fresh-picked. Your garden looks good Cro.
ReplyDeleteI'll call in for a salad when I'm passing.
ReplyDeleteAren't we only supposed to eat 2 eggs a week? Or have they now changed that piece of medical wisdom? My mum always said her cholesterol was perfectly alright until the government reduced the figures.
ReplyDeleteShe's 95 today I should add.
ReplyDeleteI think they did change it. I'm sure I heard recently that one can now eat AS MANY AS YOU LIKE.
DeleteAn Hungarian-French Brasserie just opened nearby I'm told by Lady G who went there on the opening day (it's a kind of hobby of hers to be first everywhere) that they serve delicious omelettes containing 3 kinds of cholesterol loaded cheese.
DeletePaul does all the hard work and then I get the pleasure of picking the stuff. First beetroots with our salad today and I'm going to pick the first courgette tomorrow. French beans have come through quickly after the first lot failed to germinate. Those damned birds have stolen all my cherries though.
ReplyDeleteMy beans were the same; first lot nothing, second lot OK. It'll be a little while before I have my first courgette. Those pesky starlings will have to go!
DeleteYou can't beat garden to table eating. There is nothing yet from my plantings, but I can go up the street and buy some produce from our local farmer.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beauty your garden is. My weeds are much worse. That and with the rare flooding rains we've had, the garden will have to be re-planted. Don't think I'll do much canning this year. That, and the deer have been eating my poor tomato plants and strawberry leaves. Just can't win for losing this year.
ReplyDeleteHaddock's is looking very promising, there's nothing better than home grown vegs. And home produced eggs. And yes. the so-called experts have changed the rules again and eggs are now pronounced healthy and you can eat as many as you like. My garden is looking a bit bare at the moment as we head into winter.
ReplyDeleteThose eggs and salad looks absolutely delicious, must be lovely living in a warm climate and growing sumptuous vegetables - a sort of paradise on earth ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, and the salad and eggs look amazing!
ReplyDelete