The weather has been a bit cloudy and wet these few days. Yesterday, I woke up to another grey, cloudy morning. Usually the grey clouds will clear and by afternoon, it will be sunny again until the sun goes down at 8 or 9pm. But just before noon, it rained - first a light drizzle and then the skies opened and it rained so heavily that I could see anything through the window. I thought I'd be stuck indoors the whole day.
But the skies cleared within the hour and the sun came out again. We decided to go to the garden. I know that I have some peas, beans and zucchini to harvest. The zucchini were about 10cm long the last time I saw them three days ago. I didn't want to wait too long because I know they can be super growers. I don't want them to get too big and tasteless and tough.
When we got there, we decided to check out plot number 2. His mum wanted to get a plot there as well and was hoping to get the unused plot next to ours, number 45. The owner said she has sustained a knee injury and couldn't work on her plot. She has been given another two weeks to start work on it. In the meantime, his mum has been offered number 2 so we went to see where it was located and if it was any good.
The plot as two rows behind ours and looks bigger than ours. Lots of weeds have been growing there so it would need a lot of tilling. However, the fence is still good and she wouldn't have to put up a new one. As we were walked back to our garden, I noticed that a lot of the vegetables in other plots have not been harvested. It is such a pity to see broccoli, squash, lettuce, onions and other goodies being wasted. I guess for some people, the fun is in the planting and seeing them grow. Maybe they don't really enjoy eating the vegetables.
For me, I much rather plant stuff that I want to eat. That's why I chose the plants that we have. I didn't opt for the zucchini but they plants were from my mother-in-law so I planted them anyway. I am also amazed at how the plants hung on and survived the cold weather at the start of summer. That made me treasure them and I have been harvesting and cooking them. I have stuffed, roasted and boiled them in soup. Next, I want to try making zucchini bread and zucchini muffins. I will try not to throw them out.
I have also been enjoying the peas, beans, carrots, potatoes, onions and lettuces. They all taste better than store bought ones. The carrots, especially, are so flavourful. I can smell them as I pull them out of the soil. I can smell them as I peel them and they are so nice and sweet after cooking.
I think next year, I am definitely going to plant more carrots. I will also plant more potatoes, peas, butterhead lettuce and beans. I will want to try planting cabbage, romaine lettuce, leeks and butternut squash. I might even want to try planting broccoli, even though Pete doesn't like them.
As we were walking back to our garden, Yvonne, my sister-in-law, pulled up in her car together with her two youngest kids and my mother-in-law. They were there to check out the available plot too. After checking out plot 2 again, we walked back to our garden and I started harvesting the zucchini. They have grown thrice their size! I managed to harvest six big zucchini, about 30cm long. I also harvested a whole lot of yellow and green beans and peas.
Yvonne's son loved the garden and was eager to try the vegetables. Pete let him pull up a carrot and he ate it all up. He loved it. Then, when he saw me harvesting the peas, he came over. I let him try one and he loved that as well. He said it was sweet and juicy. I let him pick as many peas as he wanted. He ate quite a lot! But it's really fun to see someone else enjoying the fruits of our labour.
But, apart from the harvesting fun, we did get an unpleasant surprise. We found some dog turd in the middle of my old bed of peas. We have seen some just outside our plot some weeks ago, but this is much worse! One problem with our plot is that it is just beside the bike and walking lane and it is a popular one with dog walkers. Also, we don't have a proper fence and gate. We have put up chicken wires along the outside perimeter but we left a gap of about 1.5m for us to get in and out. I guess that opening 'invited' these dogs, especially if they are unleashed. But then again, the dog owners should have known that the garden belongs to someone and there is no reason for them to trespass, let alone allow their dogs to relieve themselves there. That really made me mad! We definitely have to work on putting up a proper fence and gate soon or else we will get more of such unwanted 'gifts'.
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