A period of rapid growth (From Blackpool Citizen)

A period of rapid growth

11:27am Thursday 26th July 2007

• Print
• Email
• Share

THE cauliflowers have come from nowhere. Obviously, that's not strictly correct as I remember planting them a few months ago.

What I mean is that they seemed to have grown extremely rapidly, probably under cover of foliage because I clearly remember examining the plants a few days earlier and seeing nothing except leaves.

It was with a certain amount of shock, mixed with delight, that I pushed a leaf aside to find a head of a cauliflower about the size of a child's fist.

Next to it was a smaller one and next to that the beginnings of another head could be seen growing.

So three caulies appeared virtually from nowhere in a matter of days.

They looked perfectly white and the bigger one has now grown to the size of a small side plate and again that's all within the last few days.

My corn plants are also thriving. The ears of corn now seem to have a second outer layer growing around the early growth and have also shot up in height.

I really never thought these would grow in a northern urban garden, but they show every sign of growing to maturity.

This week, we finally ate the potatoes I rescued last week, but we left them sitting in the kitchen for around a week.

When I removed them from the barrel they were perfectly white and looked as though they had no skins.

But after a week they had turned the colour of potatoes you see in supermarkets and shops so it shows how old the spuds are when we buy them.

Either way they tasted great - a bit like the way old Jersey new potatoes tasted like when I was a kid, creamy and firm, but not as strong.

I am now looking forward to the crop from the second potato barrel, which I hope will be more numerous.

We will eat them as soon as we take them from the barrel next time to see if they taste any different.

I was going to leave these until September, but I noticed the same kind of black rot that affected the first barrel has appeared on the base of the stems of these previously healthy plants. Some of the lower leaves have also begun to yellow.

I will monitor them over the next few days to see how bad it gets.

Still no sign of any cabbages yet, though perhaps they will suddenly appear like the caulies did - at least that's what I am hoping for.

I'm afraid I have given up on my outside tomatoes.

They are very green and wild, but not showing any signs of fruiting.

On the plus side, the leeks and carrots look healthy in their plastic bins. I'm hoping planting them in barrels will have been a good move.

The plants are close together, but because there are no obstructions both should send their roots straight down as it were and the compost is rich and loamy so I'm hoping this way of growing will pay off.

Another success story - so far at any rate - is my strawberry barrel which has three different strains of strawberries growing, one of which has produced healthy looking clusters of green fruit.

I have put a protective net over the fruit to stop the birds pecking at them and I'm hoping the constant rainfall won't affect them as strawberries apparently don't tolerate water on the actual fruits very well. Watch this space.

• If you are proud of your little vegetable plot or have some useful gardening tips to pass on, contact me via email on wwright@theboltonnews.co.uk or call 01204 537352.

• Print
• Email
• Share