Just an update

After 3 weeks of scorching weather and one massive downpour the veg is getting exciting and there are more happy tree bees about as the herbs are in flower, soon the buddleia (butterfly bush) will be in flower too.

The tomatoes are now well on their way, I usually buy Money Maker Tomato seeds, they are quite reliable and give a good crop, at stages throughout their growth I pinch off lower leaves and stems as the plant can then focus more effort on fruits.

They're now green and just need plenty of water and sun I have also caned them up as with the weight of the tomatoes and the heavy rainfall they're starting to droop, I don't want them to snap.









Next is the pea pods which are really starting to fatten, I'm not sure how many peas I'll get it will probably just be one serving but hey, as long as they taste as great as other home grown veg. Unfortunately my peas appear to be affected by a pest known as Thrips tiny black or brown bugs which hide under the leaves, they've made a mess of the leaves but they don't really touch the pods. They can be controlled with a organic insecticide spray.


While I've been gone the sweetcorn has grown nearly as tall as me but I'm not sure if it will crop well being in a container. I guess we'll just have                                                          to wait and see.

Summer Fruits

While on holiday my neighbor was more than happy to water my veg for me but never the less I was worried. The mid July temperatures soared while I was away enjoying the cooler coast. As it turned out on my return I had no casualties Yey!

                                                              Peas Beautiful Peas.

In fact what I had was sweetcorn plants nearly as tall as me, pea pods dangling like gems, strawberries and LOTS of raspberries. I'm actually stunned at how the plant took off when I took it from the pot it had been in for 2 years and put it in the ground, within a couple of months it must have doubled in size.

I'm now getting fruits daily with the first harvest giving me a punnet with fruits nearly double the size of tasteless supermarket fruits. Yummy! I'm now waiting on blackberries to follow for a summer fruit salad.

             Tip for tasty Strawbs:- Water them a couple of times with sugar water for super sweetness.

Being arty with the produce + giving them a wash.

Our New Guests

I haven't blogged in a while as I've been at the rather more cloudy East Anglian coast. However on my return I find I have new neighbors, a queen bee appears to have chosen our sparrow terrace (a bird box with 3 holes for sparrow families) as the perfect home for her tribe.

Upon researching our new guests we found them to be Tree Bumble Bees (Bombus hynorum), who like to inhabit holes in trees or nest boxes. They are none aggressive (one flew into my camera lens and went happily along it's way)

They were only discovered in the UK in 2001 but they are a welcome foreigner as they are pollinators, bees prop up life on earth and keep the human race in food, a very important species I am proud they chose to live with us.

It seems they were attracted by The Veg, and why not it's very attractive veg as well as wildflowers growing on the motorway embankment and the other flowers round the garden like lavender. What's fab about bees is the ladies rule the hive so the queen and workers are all women and men just linger outside the door hoping for some action. This is a pic of a hopeful Mr Bee.

I'll be keeping a keen eye on these little lodgers over the coming months.

Enjoying the Lavender, eat up little bee. For more info on attracting bees or helping their conservation see http://bumblebeeconservation.org/get-involved/gardening-for-bees/

A Pointer from Gino D'acampo

This is a quick post just to get down on paper a interesting growing tip I heard on "Lunch with Gino and Mel" apparently Rocket grows best where the air is dirty. As they act like an air filter. Sort of like mussels in the sea or river filter dirty water and grow big. Apparently Rocket grows best next to motorways, dirty air is what gives the peppery taste.

So I'm thinking Rocket is perfect for the Urban Veg Grower because of the dirty city air, if it gives out clean air it can only be good for the environment.

Salad Potatoes are on the Menu.

I've been watch my potatoes grow in their bag, they grew there successfully last year, but just a week or so ago they started to go a bit wrong. Potato plants are usually lush and green and when they produce little flowers (white or purple depending on breed) it's time to harvest. But these plants started to look very unhealthy 2 out of 4 went brown and sagged and the other 2 just looked a bit sick. So because I go on my hols next week I decided to pull them and give something else the space. Below is a photo of the sickly plants.

Happily in the time they've been in they produce a little crop of salad potatoes which I'll enjoy later.

In other news the sexy carrots pictured here with Quorn Sausage and peas were delish and Mr Urban Veg will be putting what's left in a pie.