Weeding work in the potager

flowerviewI’m trying to work out if the backs of my hands are sun burned or lacerated from weeds. I’m going for lacerations.

Oh yes, the thrill of sorting the vegetable garden. It has taken me a day and a half.

I have been rewarded for my heroic deeds mind you. I have about three kilos of broad beans to pod.

And I have flowers galore all coming into bloom in the far end garden bed.  I’ll be bursting with dahlias and cosmos, and that’s not a bad thing.

I started at the far end of the potager so I could enjoy the flowers which are in relatively weed free conditions.  But there was no putting off the jungle further up. sorrelbolting

I ought to photograph my groaning compost bins which are teetering and full.

lettuce detailInstead you get the before shots of bolting sorrel, bolting lettuce, sneaky weeds which have managed to creep in under my neglectful gaze.

I don’t think I even enjoyed a single stalk of coriander. It was up and over before I had a chance to wonder with what to garnish my bowl of chilli.

I do still eat the flowers – in fact I was munching the whole time.

The lettuce was a touch bitter – it went straight onto the compost heap.clearedbeds

But I managed to snack on jostaberries and white currants with every pass of the wheelbarrow.

I have two beds devoted to broad beans at the moment and it was a harvest fest.

I had to work my way around the giant fennel that sits in one of the beds.

fennelIt was sown last year from seed, took off and was one of the only plants not to be eaten by a rather voracious mole rat.

So I keep it for sentimental reasons.

I don’t even like fennel very much. I prefer dill. But it stands as an ‘up yours’ to the mole rat. So I just treat it like a sculpture.

The broad beans are a mix of Aquadulce, Sutton and a few other varieties I found in the bottom of the broad bean seed drawer.  I’m looking forward to ordering new ones this autumn when I don’t have to scrabble about.broadbeansbush

But the beans have loved the sunshine and the regular drip feed of water every morning. It is a bumper harvest.

And speaking of which; enough of this playing about on the computer. Time for me to get shelling beans.

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