Spectacular Carrots and Peas!

I wish!!!!!

Its the time of year when my hard work should be bearing fruit. If you look above ground its all rather spectacular. Lots of greenery and healthy looking leaves. The rain and lack of sunshine has done its damage out of sight. 

I have previously bemoaned the fact that the peas didn't grow at all well. The pods that did finally appear were looking very ripe and ready earlier this week, so time to pick them. 

Not many! there are a couple more, but basically that is my entire years pea production!

I also picked a bit more spinach to make a decent serving for dinner

So what did the peas look like, actually rather nice, a beautiful colour and very shiny. 

I could have eaten all of these raw, they were sweet and delicious. So despite getting so very few they were worth the effort. I have now planted some more which are ready in September.

Now the carrots. I planted them in the early spring and have spent a lot of time trying to ensure they were not attacked by carrot fly. Yesterday it was time to dig them. We were having guests for lunch today, and I thought they would go beautifully with my slow roasted shoulder of lamb. 

First job, unwrap them from the Environ mesh tunnel they have been living in. 

The foliage looked wonderful, this is going to be a treat, I thought to myself as I pulled gently on the first carrot in the row. 

Maybe its just that one thats small , I mused hopefully and pulled the next one. 

The second and third were even tinier. The residents of Lilliput would even find these small!  I kept going until I had pulled up about a dozen, some were larger, but on the whole they were pretty minuscule. 

It seems all the effort went into growing the leaves. On the plus side, none of them had any signs of carrot fly infestation, so my efforts on the protection front were obviously very successful

A quick wash in the water butt and the vegetation cut off and they were ready to go inside. 

We also needed some potatoes for lunch, There were not too many charlottes left, so time to start on the Roosters. 

These have been reasonably successful. A decent size and about 10 potatoes on the plant I dug up. I am very pleased with them. I also dug the last of the charlottes. 

After a quick wash I ended up with a very colourful display. 

Into the kitchen for a proper wash and they were ready to be cooked for lunch today. 

They were all delicious. The carrots were described by my Dad as very carroty! 

Elsewhere in the plot the greenery is looking very pretty and the odd flower is finally appearing. 

The occasionally afternoons of sunshine we had this week, have made the cosmos come out and they are lovely. 

I was beginning to feel a bit like Peter Pan, It has been so long since I had seen my own shadow, I was wondering if someone had stolen it! Luckily walking down the garden yesterday, I noticed it had come back from wherever it had been, so took a quick snap, to make sure I knew what it looked like, in case I lost it again. 

Gibson is on top form, we went for a walk in the week and met his friend from puppy class, A golden retriever called Summer. She is very sweet and loves Gibson. Not too sure what he thinks of her. Make up your own mind. 

Well thats about it for this week. As I said in the last blog, My Dad had arrived from Spain for a visit. He loves the garden and has been having a little potter around in the vegetables and done some digging for me. 

Finally, The Olympic Games gets ever closer and this week the Olympic Torch Relay has been in our county. Yesterday we got up far to early and headed off to Brockenhurst to watch it. It turned out to be a nice morning, No rain and we got a great spot on the route.

It was really fun, lots of noise and everyone was really enjoying themselves. The convoy was impressive and finally we got to see the main event. 

We waited hours and it was all over very quickly but we agreed it was worth the effort. 

Now I am waiting to see whats next to be ready outside. I think the Shallots are next. The greenery has all died off now, and I think I should dig them up, in case they rot, so watch this space.   Have a great week and keep smiling, after all this is the summer!