The veg garden in July

July is the month in which I normally have the greatest variety of fruit and vegetables ready for eating. The early stuff like the Broad beans, peas and broccoli, is just finishing and the late stuff like Runner beans and tomatoes is just beginning.

This month I have harvested:-

Potatoes, Broad Beans, French Beans, Peas
Cabbage, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Swiss Chard
Daikon, Perpetual Spinach, Lettuce, Endive
Tomatoes, Cucumber, Baby Carrots, Beetroot
Rocket, Komatsuna, Blueberries, Raspberries
and herbs of many different types

I offer you a few pictures of some of the above...

The first ripe tomatoes were picked on 15th July. Only two each of Maskotka (red) and Tumbling Junior Yellow (yellow!), but hopefully the first of many.

The beetroot has been coming on steadily, with a few maturing every now and then, which suits me fine. I don't want vast quantities of it all at once. The first of the "Burpees Golden" variety was harvested on 16th July, whereas we have been eating the red ones ("Boltardy" and "Red Ace") since early June.

I had to pick a load of Blueberries in a hurry last week, because I saw that the Blackbirds had discovered them. Birds can strip your precious crop of fruit in minutes if you give them a chance, so I picked the fruit that was ripe or nearly so, and covered the plants loosely with a piece of fleece to hide them from view.

Mind you, there's a threat to the Blueberries that is even more voracious than the Blackbirds - Lara (my 2-year-old granddaughter). She can eat her own body weight in fruit (especially Blueberries) in about 10 minutes flat! I love seeing Lara's reaction to my garden when she visits us. Last week she discovered the delights of fresh peas eaten straight off the plant. If only you could have seen her little face light up!
My short row of peas has not produced a very big harvest, but I can't resist growing peas. Fresh home-grown ones are just so delicious. This bowlful is a medley of different types, mostly "Early Onward".

We're seldom short of salad ingredients in our house. This year the Lettuces have done particularly well. This one is "Delicato".

The cabbages have done well too. I deliberately plant mine at closer spacings than most people would use, since this keeps them smaller. One like this is quite sufficient for the two of us, and I don't like having half-used cabbage hanging around if I can help it.

I have been REALLY pleased with the way the carrots have turned out. Because of problems in previous years with carrot-fly infestation, I have grown my carrots in some old plastic washing-up bowls, placed well above carrot-fly cruising level. These little beauties are "Amsterdam 3 Sprint". As you can see, there is no sign whatever of the fly. We are eating these at the "finger" stage (that's to say, thay are about the size of a finger - approx 4 or 5 inches long), which the only sensible thing to do when growing them in a shallow container. Can you see how several of them have bent ends, with the root having to go sideways when it reaches the bottom of the container?

The Tenderstem broccoli in its various guises has been a success too. It is still producing lots of tender sideshoots, though they are smaller than the earlier ones were.

Shoots are beginning to appear out of the ground by the base of the main stems as well. Since the broccoli has already had a good run for its money, it will be difficult to decide whether to leave it in place until all those basal shoots mature, or to dig up the plants to make space for something else.

In line with my policy of honestly declaring my failures as well as my successes, I should also show you this rather pathetic specimen of the cucumber "Marketmore". The plant from which this one came only produced this one fruit and then promptly died. Was it worth bothering, I ask? It's probably full of seeds anyway.

Actually, come to think of it, the production of seeds is what a plant is all about, so this one probably thought it had done well to survive long enough to produce at least one lot of seeds! :)