Our Garden... Mid July

Our peas plants were coming to the end of their journey, I think. Yes, our HRH Prince Charles Peas were turning yellow, and even to my untrained eye, this did not look good. It may have been lack of water, but it may simply have been that they'd done their work.

Anyone out there know? The leaves turned yellow from the bottom up.

We de-podded the plant, shelled the peas and ate them there and then at the table.

Will I grow peas next year? I'm thinking I probably will not. You see, we have to grow them under glass, so the numbers of plants we can have is limited. Under glass means daily watering, unlike those plants we have in the plot. Our 'natural sprinkler system', also known as Lewis weather, takes care of them.

For all the daily watering, for all the picking of pods, and for all the shelling of peas, two or three of us devoured all the peas in a morning. If you enter number of hours spent looking after them and number of meals for the family into our very technical mathematical formula, which tells us whether a thing is worth the effort or not, I think the number comes up in the negatives.

Compare the peas with, say, this:

The onions we planted in the cold frame last winter. Apart from the occasional watering in the Spring, we did nothing. But we have onions for many meals.

The same would be true of the brassicas. I grew them from seed, so I had to look after them until the seedlings were strong enough to go outside. But since the day I planted them..... nothing! Well, okay, two spells of weeding, but that was it. All being well, the brassicas will keep us going for months and months.

The carrots and the parsnips need even less work. Once the soil is prepared, the seed is put into the ground, and apart from some weeding, and thinning when the time comes.... nothing! The carrots will last us for at least six months, and they will feed us an average of four times a week, not including the number of soups they'll be in.

See the difference?

I loved seeing the peas growing. They were delightful, and if the Builder and I live into retirement, and we have only the two of us to feed, and we have all the time in the world to spend in the garden, then peas would be a delight. But for the time being, I'm afraid practicality has to come before pleasure in the garden.

But look at this little baby! Our first tomatoes are beginning to grow.

This is my first time with tomatoes too. They're in the greenhouse and, like the peas, they need constant care. Time will tell whether we'll count this effort to have been worthwhile.

Watch this space!

This it totally off-topic, but only in this place I call home could you have such a dull, grey morning...

... and still have your washing blowing like this!

Today, I'm linking up with Smockity Frocks, and Frugal Gardening 101