Picked our first tomatoes today

I have no idea what type these tomatoes are, I got the plants from my mother in law, and I think she mentioned that they were Sungold, but they came out a different shape from what I was expecting, I grew sungold last year and they were round lol.

Tomatoes & Peppers

Just a small update from the greenhouse this afternoon…

The tomatoes are looking really really good and wont be too long before they are ripe and ready to be harvested.

The peppers are looking fantastic too… plenty of flowers and a few fruits forming, I have another 5 plants just like this one so we’re going to have loads of peppers 🙂

Couscous and Sausage Salad

The kids had been up at their grans for their tea tonight, so I didnt need to cook this evening for them, and I fancied something light to eat.

I had been flicking through a mag that I had picked up at my local supermarket and this recipe caught my eye, a quick check to make sure I had all the ingredients, yep, had everthing… and off I went 🙂

  

(For a veggie meal, you can use Feta instead of sausage)

• Serves 4
• Ready in 25 minutes
• Price Per Serving £1.60

Ingredients :

• 400g Sausages
• 200g Couscous
• Juice and zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped (I used about 12 cherry tomatoes)
• 4 Spring Onions, sliced
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 3 tbsp chopped mint leaves (I didnt put them in)

Method:

• Grill or fry the sausages until cooked, then thickly slice
• Pour 250ml boiling water into the couscous in a bowl, cover and leave for 10 minutes
• Whisk the lemon juice and zest with the olive oil and season, then stir into the couscous (after its 10 mins cooking time)
• Stir in the tomatoes, spring onions, parsley and mint
• Add the sausages and serve.

 

 

 

Sunday Brunch…

We love doing our lunches like this… put everything on plates and then dig in and enjoy 😉

Roast Chicken, Lovely Ham, Cheddar Cheese, Slices of Smoked Cheese with ham bits inside, and some Bavarian Smoked Cheese….

Lovely fresh Crusty Bread and beautiful sweet cherry tomatoes…

The fruit Platter… Melon, Pineapple, MacIntosh Red Apple, Red grapes and Strawberries.. yum!

How the Veggies are progressing…

A bit of a mixed reaction with the growing season so far… it started out great, lovely and warm, then it kinda went downhill after that.. its not been that sunny and it has rained a fair bit, and I think this has had an impact on the veggies growing both in the greenhouse and in the garden.

Here is an up to date report on some of the veggies growing in my garden..

First of all the peas… I have some planted straight into the garden and also some growing in a trough on the high wall..

Both were sown inside the greenhouse then planted out about 2 weeks apart, the result for both is that they have grown about 10 – 12 inches tall (not really that big), they have produced pea pods, but not that many of them, I’d be lucky if there was enough to serve up onto one plate let along freeze a bag of them so we could enjoy them in winter.. so verdict on the peas 1/10 really disappointed.

Now on to the tomatoes in the greenhouse… I have around 10 plants all seemingly doing well but not a lot of fruits, in fact I had to take 2 off the plant this morning as they had blossom end rot, I always remember my dad moaning about it when I lived at home, cursing the blossom end rot lol, now i’ve got it!

The micro tom tomatoes… I dont think I will be growing these again, for me, its a bit of a messy looking plant and the fruits are too close to the soil.

 

The Potatoes are doing really well (I think)!   Grown in big spud bags, they should be ready to harvest quite soon.

Next… the onions, I’m not sure if they are doing well or not to be honest, I would have expected them to be bigger than they are, but we shall wait and see what happens..

The Carrots seem to be doing ok, must get some weeding done this weekend before the weeds take over..

Courgettes… well they seem to be doing just grand, in full blom at the moment, here’s hoping I get fruit this year, last year they rotted away just after forming because it was soooo wet.

I have some flowers growing in the garden too, which are adding a lovely splash of colour….

 

 

 

Veggie Growing Update…

I have been busy in the greenhouse today, potting on the seedlings

Firstly we have the Courgettes, I have around a dozen plants, last year was so wet here that my courgettes were a bit of a disaster, the flowers came and the fruits formed, then, promply rotted away, so fingers crossed that this year is better and not so rainy!.   Its my plan to put 10 plants out into the raised beds and keep a couple in the greenhouse, just incase.

  

Next we have the Coriander or Cilantro as its known in other parts.   My daughter planted the seeds and they are thriving away nicely, i’ll be transferring this clump into a bigger pot this coming week.

   

My tomato plants are growing like mad, I have several different varieties growing here…

Gardners Delight

Microtom

Moneymaker

Totem &

Yellow ones who’s name has escaped me (my memory is shocking..will probably remember 2 days time) 🙂 

  

My early peas are doing just grand too, these will be hardened off over the next week then planted out into the raised bed.   I have another large batch on the go too which were sown 3 weeks later than these ones.

   

The chives look fantastic, tiny green spears shooting up towards the sky.. i’ll be re-potting these too next week, then hopefully find a space for them out in the garden somewhere.

 

My daughter’s sweetcorn is doing great too, i’ll be repotting these into bigger pots this weekend and wait for the weather to warm up before planting them into the garden.