word of the week #27

Admittedly a little seasonally premature, but there has been much excitement this week in the form of our first few mouthfuls of home-grown food. Last weekend we had a few freshly picked mange-tout with dinner, though letting them grow a little longer results in beautifully sweet peas that I have now got into the habit of eating straight from the pod as I potter about the garden.

There has also been a single ripe strawberry, although a few more are just on the edge. I am toying with whether to let them ripen a little longer in the hope that I will have enough to actually constitute a bowlful, or whether to pick them as quickly as I can so that they don't get pilfered by some eager wildlife.

It is good fun this gardening lark, although one of our hanging baskets has well and truly given up the right after the extreme conditions of the last few days. As I wrote that the lightning started up again so we will see how they are looking in the morning. I've now got plans for a few home-built planters to house wildflowers, and to grow some cut flowers. I love that our garden is quite neat in design, it is very much how I hoped it would look, but I like the idea of a bit of unstructured, overflowing colour, and I thought some containers or large planters along the fence would be a good way of introducing it. The Husband has obviously got the bug too, because no sooner had I mentioned it than he was planning a split level affair with room for even more fruit and vegetables.

That might well be a project which only comes to fruition next year, but for this year our small rations of hand-picked vegetables, and the huge roses that are bursting out in unison are bringing us lots of happiness indeed.