This is only our second Spring at this house, so much of what we have planted we will see for the first time this year. Every day is bringing something new at the moment. The tulips (bought in Amsterdam in November) are beginning to poke their way through in pots, the mini salix has its ‘pussy willows’ and all the new fruit trees are full of wonderfully promising buds – promising a fantastic show of blossom followed by a fantastic crop of fruit I hope! We seem to have adopted an organic approach to gardening…not in the ‘this is organic produce’ sense but in the sense that all garden planning has been somewhat short notice and therefore given us a garden that has developed organically…or at least that is the way that I choose to see it. Some may just see it as a right disorganised mess!
Our seed trays are growing in number by the day, so far we have planted: tomatoes, chillis, cauliflowers, radish, onions, aubergine, cucumbers, celery, strawberries, rocket, parsley and oregano. Still chitting on the window sill are the first early seed potatoes and we have about a dozen more varieties of veg to plant yet.
Whilst we wait for our own to grow, I have recently started ordering from a well known organic veg box scheme…I don’t order the boxes, I place my own mixed orders and whilst some of the quality is no doubt good, I am reserving judgement on others for the moment. I am not convinced that 4 carrots is terribly good value for 75p especially when the tops are wilted, brown and rotting…I can’t even feed them to the guinea pigs! the onions…well I will give them one more chance and then they are off the list too. I shoved a dozen onion sets along the edge of a flower bed last year and then forgot all about them until harvest time and I can safely say that the quality of those neglected little orbs from under my lavender beat that of these so-called organic-cost-a-lot onions any day. I don’t mind paying extra for quality but if I am just paying for some sort of middle-class kudos then I will go back to the supermarket (and no, small greengrocers aren’t an option round here! where do you think I live?? south-west london?!?!)
