The Harrod Horticultural HQ garden is really starting to take off and the customer service team are delighted to finally be able to pick some of the vegetables and fruit - there is currently a little pile of pea pods on each of their desks!
The highlight this week has definitely been the peas being harvested, but as if on cue for wimbledon we had our first red strawberry this week too with a few more looking close. We only planted up one strawberry planter so we are not expecting a huge haul but they will make a nice treat for the team!
The RHS have got a great article on growing your own peas here if you are looking for some advice on how to grow your own.
The greenhouse is continuing to flourish, the cucumbers are coming along well and the tomato plants look good. The tomatoes do seem a bit slow, but we are getting lots of flowers so expecting lots of tomatoes soon.
Although we have had lots of rain it has been pretty warm over the last week so we have had to up the watering in the greenhouse to stop the plants drying out.
We have set up a Big Drippa to help water the tomatoes. This clever little watering device has been a customer favourite for years mainly because of its simplicity and the fact it works! The bag acts as a reservoir and the drip valves can be adjusted to achieve the perfect watering rate.
The courgettes we were growing in pots have outgrown the greenhouse and have now been moved outside. After our initial problems with the courgettes getting overheated we were doubting a comeback, but they have bounced back with real vigour and should go on to produce a great harvest.
The courgettes in the raised bed are also going well and we should be harvesting the first fruits this week. Hopefully we will have plenty over the coming weeks as we are keen to try out this tasty looking recipe for Courgette Tortilla Wedges.
The carrot fly screen is doing a great job of protecting our Chantenay Carrots which look like they are almost big enough to harvest - probably will leave for a few more weeks to let the roots grow a bit more.
The team have also been thinning out the swede seedlings this week to make room for the roots to grow.
We have had a bit of a problem in the raised bed with our Kale. Our Butterfly Net Cover has performed well, stopping caterpillar attack, preventing butterflies landing on the plants and laying eggs, but the plants have been nibbled by another foe! It looks like we have some slugs in the soil - should have practiced what we preach and applied some nemaslug slug killer at the start of the season. We will apply some this week to hopefully stop further attacks and it looks like the plants should make a recovery.
All in all a good week with our tasty first peas and the majority of the plants coming on really well. Now it's time to sit back with our one strawberry and cream and enjoy the tennis!
Happy Gardening!
