A Wonderful Invitation

On Wednesday I was jumping for joy around my kitchen, after receiving an invitation to the launch of this years NGS Yellow Book. Last year I completed a self funded project, photographing NGS gardens and their owners, on their open days, giving the images to the National Garden Scheme for them to use if they wish. The pleasure I got from the project was reward enough, so this puts the icing on the cake. The president of the NGS is Joe Swift, so if I get to meet him, well I might explode with happiness. Hopefully not in front of him; don't want to make a mess!

I took a stroll up the garden path this morning, in the sunshine. It was markedly warmer than of late; almost spring like. Gosh the garden's a mess. Lots of work to do, digging over the raised beds and replacing fences.
I inspected my purple sprouting broccoli. Nothing to eat yet but they looked healthy enough. Boots helped me check them out.

I have been buying from the Marshalls kitchen garden catalogue http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/index.html my favourite seed catalogue. As potatoes take up so much room, I have bought some bags to grow them in, which come with tubers and free potato fertiliser. I have gone for the taster bags, as you get 3 varieties of tubers, Charlotte, Swift and Maris Peer. I have also bought some chili seeds and salad bowl, cut and come again lettuce.
This is our 3rd year of growing our own veg. I still have lots to learn but one of the most important lessons I have learnt so far, especially if space is at a premium, is to only grow vegetables which you know you will take pleasure in eating and also that the summers are too damp for outdoor tomatoes. Two years of the tastiest summer crop being decimated by blight, has put me off growing them again; outdoors that is.
You just watch, this year we will have perfect tomato growing weather!