Ornamental Veg.

Hello everyone. Tonight we will have a look at a few things in the veg garden, I want you to see how ornamental veg can be as well as good for eating.

This first picture is of the beetroot and in this case is just planted in a bog standard row but I’m sure with a bit of imagination the green leaves and red stems could put on a good display in any flower border.

Again, these Lettuce aren’t arranged at their best but I' sure you can see the potential of the contrasting colours of the reds and greens. The row in the middle is the new Lettuce I’m trying called Bijou. Its leaves are almost purple and if it tastes as good as it looks then it will be one that I will be growing again that’s for sure.

This picture is of a Mangetout flower. After the flower come golden pea pods, I think this plant is worth growing just for that lovely flower, almost as good as a sweet pea.

Kitchen Garden.

People often ask me what I grow in the kitchen garden, in fact to my surprise I was talking to someone the other day who didn't realise that you could grow your own veg from seed. I always tend to assume that people know this stuff and thats why the statement came as such a surprise. I explained that most veg can be grown from seed and is actually easy to grow from seed. So today I will show you some of the veg I grow for the family at the big house, all of which I have grown from seed or in the case of the Onions and Garlic, from bulbs.

[Click on the pics to enlarge for a better view]

Below are a row of Peas on the left, then a row of Broad Beans and to the right two rows of Garlic. There are another row of Peas and one of Broad Beans just out of the picture.
Next up we have six rows of Onions, two rows each of brown, red and white skinned. They came as a collection from Marshalls Seeds.

In this next picture s a row of Parsnips to the left and a row of Beetroot. You will have to look close for the Parsnips as they're only just showing through. The Beetroot were started under glass and planted out as seedlings when the weather improved.

A few of these plants can be seen growing as seedlings Here

Peas, Beans & Beetroot.

Peas, Broad Beans and Beetroot growing on in the conservatory.

Hopefully these will provide an early crop after being planted out in the garden once the weather picks up.