Welcome back to my garden. Things have changed at pace since April; I have the unseasonably warm spring to thank for the edibles I’m already harvesting. I write this a few days before Midsummer, and despite the lacklustre weather today on the solistice, we have managed to graze our way through a handful of strawberries and sugar snap peas. In fact, our challenge has been getting any of our edibles into the house. The children are so keen to try the food we’re growing. Nasturtium leaves are munched with little regard for the dwindling plant. And as for the borage flowers, well, the poor bees are set to never get a look in!

An edible garden

There is so much developing and changing right before our eyes - so many rich promises of produce to come that tantalise us. We spend a lot of time outside whilst still in lockdown here in the UK that it is inevitable our focus is on this little edible world. From blueberries to broad beans, calendula to kohl rabi, it’s fair to say we have packed a lot in. I look forward to continuing to share our edible attempt at suburban permaculture with you.

Permaculture in an English suburban garden

I made a short video touring the garden for my Instagram, which I’ve uploaded here so readers who don’t use the platform can have a watch. It shows you the good, the bad and the chicken-related disasters! It’s fair to say the chooks have been on a not-so free range schedule since they’ve been helping themselves to the vegetables whilst they potter about the garden. They have an extension to their house with a permanent roof now, and we’re looking at a pen for the lawn too. But unfortunately, without a bigger growing space, we can’t afford the casualties that coincide with roaming poultry!

I’m still on our local allotment waiting list - number 22 at my last check in - which is sad. I don’t want an allotment I’m reliant on driving too, which I will have if I choose an allotment further afield. The whole point of this experiment into backyard suburban permaculture is to make an ecosystem that takes care of itself. It’s designed to let plants do what they do best - a less hands-on approach to pest control and healthier edibles all round. The garden just isn’t big enough to meet all the needs of our family, as well as provide all the fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers we’d need to sustain us. The hope is an allotment may somewhat bridge that sustainable lifestyle gap. But whatever plot I eventually get, it will take time to build this harmonious ‘growing your own’ ecosystem we’re trialling at home. So for now, I shall continue to make my mistakes in private. (If you can keep a secret, I promise to keep telling you about them here too.)

My Instagram gardening video is below, along with a full plant list of what we’re growing and the stages they’re all at.

GROWING INDOORS

• Sweet pepper summer salad mixed

SEEDLINGS IN THE GROWHOUSE

• Ruby Chard

• Moon Red Lettuce

• Fennel do Firenze

• Dill nano

PLANTS IN THE GROUND

• Broad bean Suprifin

• Dwarf bean purple queen

• Runner bean Enorma

• Cucumber marketmore 76

• Red cabbage

• Red onion

• Sweetcorn

• Nasturtium tip top velvet

PLANTS IN CONTAINERS

• Tomato Moneymaker - these look very sad!

• Tomato Tumbling Tom yellow - in hanging baskets

• Tomato beefstake

• Tomato costoluto fiorentino

• Courgette Grisette de Provence 

• Squash patty pan

• Squash harrier F1

• Purple sprouting broccoli

• Kohl Rabi Purple

  HERBS

• Parsley plain leaves

• Garlic chives

• Culinary lavender

• Rosemary

• Purple sage

• Winter savory

• Lemon balm

• Calendula

• Thyme

• Sweet basil

HARVESTING / OVER

• Mustard oriental colour & bite

• Strawberry Red gauntlet, Cambridge favourite and Strawberrys and cream

• Pea (snap) sugar bon

• Mangetout

• Radish bright light

• Mixed lettuce leaves

• Borage

• First early potatoes - Charlotte

• Parsley plain leaves

FAILURES

• Squash (summer) sun burst (failed to germinate)

• Tomato black opal (failed to germinate)

• The vast majority of my dwarf beans have been ravaged!

• Beetroot Golden eye (too much shade)

• Beetroot Rhonda F1 (too much shade)

What to sow for winter crops

I need to get my planner back out and start making notes for what to sow next. I have plenty of squashes already on the go but no pumpkins - we simply haven’t the room. If you haven’t started any pumpkins yet, there is still time. You can start them off inside, or simply direct sow and use a cloche to protect them from heavy rains. And you don’t need to buy a fancy cloche, a cut down clear plastic bottle will do - if you happen to have one, that is! I have sown some Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Ruby Chard, but I think I ought to try and get some kale sown too. It’s hard trying to figure out what space I might have available when - I feel like I’ve waited an eternity for these broad beans to crop! And as much as I dread thinking about winter before the summer has even begun, this year I am determined to have a go at growing garlic. Garlic needs cold weather, so planting in late autumn for a spring crop is ideal. I am on the fence with whether to try a hard neck or a soft neck variety - I don’t have the space for both. However, every time Monty Don harvests an Elephant Garlic, those fat, snow white bulbs always make me long to have a taste.

Have you grown garlic? Any advice? Or what do you plan to grow for late autumn? Please leave me a comment below, I’m always interested to hear.

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