I had a visitor in my kitchen today

This beautiful Dragonfly flew into my kitchen today, it was amazing and the photo doesn't do it justice. It flew around frantically and I shut the back door so it couldn't escape until I got some photo's. I then helped it fly off out of the window by gently easing it along the glass and out into the garden.

A Perfect day

We visited the Carshalton Lavender farm open day on Saturday and it was a good day for it. The sun was shining, the bees were buzzing and the lavender smelt heavenly. But the highlight of the day after picking some lavender from the fields was meeting a dear blogger friend Ali who's allotment backs onto the lavender fields. Ali's was one of the first allotment blogs I ever visited and we have kept in contact ever since. She and her husband Ian are delightful and we felt like we had known them for ages. We visited her plot and it is immaculately kept and looked exactly like the photo's on her blog. Here are a few photo's of our meeting.

The Lavender fields

Ali and myself outside her lottie shed.

Ali checking her plums

The lovely Ali

Austin looking very dodgy ! on Ali's plot

We had a great day out and got back in time for a BBQ at my daughters, so in the words of Del Boy Trotter ' Perfik' . I hope you have a lovely week-end

M x

A pictorial update on the happenings from plot 19

First of all Rust on the garlic forced me to dig it up earlier that I wanted to. The leaves were really badly infected and had lots of spores on them. I had to save the garlic from further troubles, so I dug them up and dried them out on the concrete and newspaper away from the beds, as I didn't want the spores contaminating the earth in the them. The garlic is fine but I wont be able to plait them like last year as the foliage has to be cut off and discarded away from the plot, but at least I didn't lose the garlic.

Courgettes, round, green and yellow. Both equally delicious either baked, steamed or in an Italian sauce recipe.

Siamese courgette !! I had a lot of Siamese veg last year, very odd !!

Mondays harvest. This makes it all worthwhile

And now for the flowers on the plot. First pic, Cosmos 'Double Click' and the single is 'Sonata'

Dahlia 'Pink Giraffe' and living up to it's name this year as it is so tall, strange really as it hasn't grown this tall before. Pink echinacea grown from seed last year.

A bouquet picked on Monday from the garden and allotment. Still going strong today with the exception of a couple of droopy ones going over.

This photo is for DAMO who I know loves dahlias as much as I do. I grew them for the first time this year and they are called 'Stargazer' these two are such pretty colours and I am waiting for the others to flower.

Sweet-peas galore this year both in the garden and at the allotment, so little posies every other day filling the house with glorious scent.

Pumpkins, not sure what this one is but it's getting very big.

Turks Head squash

Chillies in the greenhouse

Peppers in the greenhouse

Tomato, 'Abraham Lincoln' from seeds which I am trialing for 'VICTORIANA NURSERY'

as you can see they are bigger than the palm of my hand, OK I have small hands but believe me they are huge. I can't wait for them to ripen and there are so many of them.

Red onions, doing well and look like they may be ready to harvest soon.



My pride and joy !! success after two years of trying hard to grow aubergines Ssshhhh ! just in-case they fall off overnight !! Three are swelling and there are a few more starting. Moussaka !!!!

Hampton Court Flower show

I have posted some photo's that I took at the flower show on my other blog 'Happiness Is' the link is below. The 'Harrod horticultural' plot was amazing, they had every kind of vegetable growing in an allotment setting and all of the veg were perfect specimans



http://myworldthroughthecameralens.blogspot.com/

And in the greenhouse ..........

There are these beauties growing. Plus lots of different chillies (no photo's )

These are the tomato plants grown from seeds from Victoriana Nursery and they are called 'Abraham Lincoln' so far they are huge and look to be growing even bigger every time I visit the greenhouse. One fits into the palm of my hand, I can't wait to try one as soon as they are ripe.

I have 2 cucumber plants grown from seed, can't remember which seed company off hand, but they are called 'Burpless' I grew them last year and they are delicious. I can't keep up with harvesting them and have been giving loads away, shame they can't be frozen.

Fingers crossed I will get some decent Aubergines this year, so far 3 have started swelling.

The first little pepper has just started to grow, I have about 6 plants in the greenhouse so hope to get a good harvest from them.

It's such a busy time of year in the garden and the allotment so forgive me if I don't post as often and I am trying to visit the blogs on my blog list as you all inspire me.

Have a lovely week. M x

What a difference a month makes !!

My first two french beans 'Fasold' I grew these last year and they are delicious. There are lots of flowers so I'm hoping for a bumper crop this year.

Two rows of beetroot, I didn't thin them out in time, so now I am pulling them as baby ones and leaving some in to get bigger.

The three varieties of courgettes. I also planted seeds for long yellow ones, but I think I gave them all away by mistake as the tags got lost, so I have planted two long green ! doh !!

Two varieties of Parsnips either end carrots in the middle and some self sown nasturtiums.

The herb bed

Some of the squashes, I have lot's more.

These two are 'Legend'

This is a little 'Turks cap' squash

The broad beans, I have had such a bumper crop this year and they have unfortunately been covered in blackfly. I didn't pinch out the tops early enough, but they wash off and have to be podded anyway. I love to eat my broad beans small and tender.

I have a real little Eco system going on amongst the broad beans, but these two would rather get up to more interesting things than eat the blackfly !!



Ohhh the lovely mangetout, my favourite this year, I have just got another row going for after this row gives out.

Purple brussel sprouts (at the back) and purple sprouting broccoli (in front) I have to thin them out as they are too close together and more than I need, but rather than compost some and then lose the ones I planted (sod's law !) I put them all in for the time being. (my law !)

Potatoes, two rows of Charlotte (second earlies) and two rows of 'King Edward' (main crop)

I have had one row of 'Charlotte up and they are delicious.

Onions, red and white and all grown from seed. There's about 150 all together in this and another bed.

Red Gooseberries


A small fruit harvest from yesterday. I have been picking strawberries every day and have frozen bags of them.

A small fruit and veg harvest from a couple of days ago. Sadly the spinach is all gone so I must sow some more.

That's it for today, I took masses of photo's this afternoon, far to many to show here in this post, so I will put some more on later. Have a great week-end everyone. I'm looking forward to next week as we are going to Hampton Court Flower Show. I have been every year for about 7 years now and love it for the photography as well as all the lovely plants and ideas.