It is mid-August and my garden has gone to seed. Dominated by the foxgloves, the bed under the apple tree slumbers on.
I grew chard last winter and spring, and thought to get seed from it – so I left the plants. Even after some hacking out of the wild upward-growing tendrils there is a chard wilderness in my bed.
The meadow has a wonderful reflowering, after the bulbs of spring and the campion and geraniums that followed, but it has collapsed over the edges of the patch it occupies. Butterflies love the scabious.
Despite all this my veg, mainly concentrated in one bed, have flourished and form a nice grouping: courgettes at the front, then lettuces and corn, then all sorts of climbing beans. I’m aiming at the Native American ‘3 sisters’ of growing squash, beans and corn together.
In the greenhouse chaos continues, and I have a rogue morning glory flower which lights up my mornings opening the greenhouse door with its fantasticly vivid colours.
I have tried out gherkins this year – great success in growing one large gherkin at a time, but I am eating them sliced thinly, unpeeled, in salads so have none to pickle!
September will bring some more colour to the garden when the asters and rudbeckia come out, and the geraniums reflower, and some of the early veg is dug out, but for now, order has gone on holiday!
