Wet Garden

Thank you for all your good wishes for Jewel.

We have seen an improvement in her.

She is able to make her own way up and downstairs,

she is eating better,

and generally seems more like herself.

So we are hoping that

she is recovering

and that there is no underlying cause.

Thanks also for your encouraging comments

regarding my orangy red elongated hexagons.

 

These photos were all taken in the garden

on Wednesday, after the rain.

I meant to post them yesterday,

but went off to a wein kirmes last night,

returning too late to write anything sensible.

Or maybe it had something to do with the amount of wine consumed.

Yesterday started off sunny and warm,

hot even.

But by midday,

the sky was very heavy,

bringing with it,

thunder and torrential rain.

It was a shame.

I had planned to go and see

the crowning of the king and queen of the wine in the next village.

But as it was due to take place in the market square,

I thought it would be a rather wet affair.

So wisely,

(as it turned out),

gave it a miss,

(I would have got soaked to the skin!)

In another nearby village,

a group of Harley Davidson bikers

have been visiting.

We could hear them

passing on their bikes all afternoon.

We felt sorry for them,

knowing that they had a run out on their bikes planned for the afternoon,

winding up somewhere for coffee and cake.

But the rain didn't seem to stop them.

We know what it's like to come to the Mosel

on motor bikes and get caught in a thunderstorm.

I remember when we visited here in 2003

(it might have been 2004),

we had to shelter in a shop doorway in Bernkastel.

I got soaked to the skin.

Once the rain stopped,

we got back on our motor bikes

only to stop and shelter under a bridge

not far from here.

Little did we know then that we would be living here now!

My sister bought me this Echinacea

last year.

But marigolds have self seeded themselves about the garden.

A bit like the one and only sunflower.

I think potatoes and tomatoes

belong to the same family.

It's easy to see why in these two photos.

The one above is a potato plant,and the one below,

a tomato.

I'm quite pleased with the tomatoes,

as they are all grown from seed.

I didn't really expect them to germinate,

so now I've got loads.

But I'm no gardener,

and so they have all been fending for themselves

and are therefore smaller than my neighbours plants.

But I'll put it down to a learning experience.

And try and do better next year.

I'm surprised to see this lupin in flower.

I sowed the seeds this spring,

so I didn't expect them to flower this year.

When I checked this morning to see if the plants were all still standing

after the deluge yesterday,

I noticed this lupin flower had turned a delicate pink. 

I hope you are all in the pink this weekend!

Updates- Vegetables

Excursions into growing vegetables have been less successful than I'd hoped.

I've been growing 3 tomato plants indoors, each a different variety. Top picture shows Gardeners delight which are cherry tomatoes. They are the most successful in that they have the most trusses of tomatoes on. They are the only ones so far to ripen, but the taste is disappointing.

The tomatoes above are the variety Moneymaker and my dad used to grow these very successfully on the smallholding. And although the ones in the picture are beginning to ripen now since I took the picture a few days ago, there aren't many of them.

There is a third plant, but it wasn't even worth taking a photo of it.

This plant however has been very prolific. Unfortunately I bought it thinking it was Bell Peppers and instead it is a chillie plant, and we don't eat many chillies. And yes they are quite hot!

The allotment hasn't fared much better. After getting the allotment we decided that we wouldn't be staying in the UK so my ideas to grow fruit didn't materialise as I didn't think I would be here to eat it. So anything I did grow was to be harvested by September. In the end I kept it simple. I just put more onions and potatoes in and they are currently being harvested and eaten, and very nice they are too.

I've also grown some strawberries in the allotment. I was given some plants by a woman who has a plot across from me. She's been doing it for years and is very good at it. Unfortunately we were away in Sweden when the strawberries had their main crop. Surprisingly though I did get some fruit from them and they were lovely.

Other plants I've grown (or planted) are:-

dahlias- the snails got them! Yes I know these aren't vegetables, but I like them

carrots-haven't grown any bigger than my little toe, and a lot thinner!

salad leaves- growing okay

sweetcorn- grown at my son's request and seem to be doing okay...I think



Well perhaps not the most successful of vegetable growers, but I can only get better. As I intend growing more vegetables next year in Sweden I think this years growing will have proved very useful as a learning experience, if nothing else!