Intro to my Yarden

So, it is high time I told you about my little garden and shared my efforts at growing vegetables and fruit.  I feel the Compost and Cake elements of this blog are being neglected.

Here is the garden. Yarden is probably more appropriate as it’s effectively two patios with some tubs on.

My yarden

This is pretty much it, we try to do the best we can in a small space. We have mostly planted in pots rather than in the ground so we can move things around and have the maximum amount of space for our son to play in.

This year I am trying to grow fruit and veg properly for the first time.  We have some tomatoes…

Yellow Cherry Tomatoes - Sun Baby

We are trying two kinds of tomato.  This one is a yellow cherry tomato and we have already had some tomatoes.  It seems tolerant of cooler weather but I think it will need some sunshine soon.  I have had to stake it because it grew quite tall, but it is still compact enough for a tub.

The other tomato plant is a red small tomato but it is a bushy plant,I think it is called Tumbling Tom.  There are a lot of tomatoes on it, but they are not ripening because the leaves seem to protect their fruit too much.  I don’t think we will be trying this one again.  You can see my bumper crop below!  The Sun Babies are so delicious, I haven’t been able to wait until I’ve got a few before I eat them.

Tumbling Tom and Sun Babies

And some peppers… which I have discovered, are simply not for the English climate – at least not up North and not outside.  Mine grew to their maximum size (about 3 inches) a few weeks ago and I feel like they are just getting tougher as the weeks go by rather than larger and tastier.  I think I need to admit defeat and plant something else. Any suggestions for late planting would be gratefully received.

And have had two courgettes. I am most impressed by these.  They just grow so fast.  I think next year we will have a few of these plants.  They are most satisfying to pick.  I feel like I’ve got real green fingers.  We are hoping to have some strawberries but they don’t want to show their faces in this gloomy weather.

There’s just time to share the secret of a garden’s success – the best helper of them all.  I am not sure that the plants appreciate some of the rough treatment he doles out, and he keeps the worms on their toes, but he doesn’t half take it seriously!

Isaac the Destroyer