Plot to plate

In the spring I went to a seed swap and potato day where I bought a variety of early potato that was new to me but sounded promising. The varieties available in the shops are limited and not especially flavoursome so I thought it worth giving 'Isabel' a try.

I'm very pleased with the result. This is what I got from one plant. It's a clean crop with a good texture and flavour that holds it's shape well when cooked. I'm storing some of the tubers to plant next year.

The later varieties are still in the ground.

We eat well from the garden in summer, the peas and beans are all cropping, lots of broad beans which we like to eat while they are still small.

I've stopped growing tomatoes out-of-doors because the weather can be unreliable and ruin my best efforts. Half a dozen plants crammed into the greenhouse are keeping us well supplied.

Plenty of cucumbers but the courgettes are really weedy, we've not had a single meal from them yet.

No problems with the soft fruit.

But something rather strange has happened to one of my lemon trees, half the fruit is the normal shape but the remainder is not very normal at all!

When do you cut back your lavender? I'm always torn as to what to do, whether to gather the flower stems when the colour is still bright so that I can use it for decoration and give the bushes a good trim or to leave well alone, enjoying brushing through the stems until autumn, by which time the flower heads are no use and the bushes losing shape.

I've compromised and cut a few back but left the majority.

There are plenty of flowers to pick in the garden

but I couldn't resist buying these roses when I went to do my weekly shop. They are a lovely range of colours and I'll try to strike them as cuttings when the petals drop.

The coriander is setting seed

and various favourites have come to the end of their flowering. 'Raubritter' has given a glorious show but now the heads need to be cut off.

Other roses are blooming in it's stead.

There's been a fair bit of cutting back to do, 

from this

to this. 

I hope it doesn't prove to have been too drastic!

Other trimming is less extreme.

And even the topiary is giving me some hope!