News from the garden
by planetparker
Our gardens are a riot of produce at this time of the year. The peas we sowed are producing numerous pods. It is a dwarf variety from Italian seedsmen Franchi, called “Piccolo Provenzale”. The individual peas are both sweet and nutty.
Our French beans are also producing a bountiful crop. Amongst the varieties we sowed was a purple-podded variety from Unwins. They may not have a vast range of exotic vegetables, but their seeds are universally top class.
Rosie has attempted to emulate the growing practices of the Mexican Indians, by growing runner beans among sweet corn, whose tall shaft supplies support for the beans. She is having marvellous success with this so far. The variety of runner bean she is growing, from Thompson and Morgan, is called “Teeny beany”, while the sweet corn is a new variety from T&M called “Rising Sun”. It was bred with colder climates in mind, and our success with it has only been phenomenal.
In our Cavan garden Rosie has enjoyed great success with some cherry yellow tomato plants she was given. Already we are enjoying small, bright yellow globes of sweetness and flavour that are just right for salads and sandwiches.
Bringing on a plant from seed to harvest is a most satisfying experience. In fact I would go so far as to say that it is self-transcending.
Ciaran, glad to see you are enjoying the garden. My girlfriend put one in her backyard and enjoys working in it each night as she comes home from work. So far, some fine green and yellow beans, zuccini, and cucumbers have arrived. Waiting for strawberries, squash and peppers, but the animals are taking more than their fair share, I’m afraid.
Great to hear fronm you, we’ve had strawberries for the past three weeks – delicious, big, juicy ones. What’s more we got some Wild Strawberrry seeds from our trusted Italian seed site Franchi’s. They were like little grenades of sweetness in the mouth. Our peppers haven’t been doing as well as they should, but the chillli peppers are something else. Thirty years ago when I started gardening – and then left off for twenty-five – it was impossible to get a chili pepper to grow in Ireland even in a glass house. Now we have no problems with them outside. There is a variety that Rosie loves to grow. It’s called “pinocchio’s nose” and she got the seeds from an Internet friend in South Carolina. The zukes will be ready shortly and I am looking forward to all of the ways Rosie can find to cook them. I used to fry them in a bit of oil, after having sprinkled them with some salt to take out any bitterness, but you can do so much more with them. The folks in Provence make a lovely soup, while as you know in Italy they stuff the gorgeous flowers with soft cheese and fry them .I love regional Italian food. I have a book written by this Italian chef based in London called Antonio Carlucci. In Belturbet there is a lovely little Italian restaurant, run by two people from Romania! They do great pizzza, but they also cook a lovely dish caled Pollo Valdostana from north west Italy. The weather here is ok, but I suspect it’s too good for you! When do you think you’ll come back to the Emeral Isle? I know you like November but last November wouldn’t have been suitable for you on your bike, as you’de have needed a boat to get around. All the best, Ciaran