They are past their best now, so I'm trying to use them up before they go woody. I don't think they have enjoyed the very hot dry weather. They are OK, but not as nice as the ones I was harvesting a couple of weeks ago.
The Turnips have been joined in my basket by beans of two different types - the last of the Broad Beans, and some of the first of the "Cobra" French Beans:
None of the Broad Beans were very good this year, despite the fact that I sowed three different varieties, and this little batch was the final harvest. They were mostly small pods with only two or three beans in them. Some had only a single bean. Most disappointing. Still, the climbing beans are looking pretty good. I have 12 plants of "Cobra" so I am already getting a fair few pods, and they've hardly started yet!
But look at this. An empty space - something you don't see very often in in Mark's Veg Plot! This is where the Turnips came from:
Actually it is no longer empty. I can't bear to see space being un-utilised, so I have sowed some Radish seeds and transplanted a few Parsley seedlings. The Radishes will mature quickly at this time of year, and will give me a yield within about a month, by which time I will need that space again for growing Radicchio and Autumn-harvesting Endives.
Here is another "not empty" space - the place which until very recently hosted the Broad Beans.
Those plants you see around the edges of the bed are mostly Cavolo Nero, with a couple of "Matsuri" miniature Broccoli. The main part of the bed will soon have PSB in it, but the seedlings are not yet big enough for transplanting.
Running a garden like mine, where space is at a premium, is like organising a Project. You have to think ahead a lot, judging when to sow seeds so that they will be ready for planting as soon as a vacant space becomes available. I usually get two (different) crops from each of my raised beds each year - with the exception of the perennial Asparagus which remains in place all the time.
We have the opposite - harvesting plenty of broad beans but the runner beans and Cobra are still at the starting to flower stage!
ReplyDeleteI wish I were getting a good harvest of beans. I barely get one serving out of a whole week's picking. I'm wondering if they need more water. They ought to be fine with all the rain we have gotten, but they just aren't putting out beans for me.
ReplyDeleteYour turnips look great to me, I've grown them for the first time this year and will do so ago.
ReplyDeleteI like that you are well organised and don't leave a space in your beds for long - I need to be better at this.
Angela