In the Greenhouse

It may only be a little greenhouse but we have managed some good healthy looking plants in there. Not many but enough to give us a flavour of what we would like to try and do once we get the bigger one.

Here in front of their mini greenhouse are a huge tomato plant (the only one that survived!) A pepper plant in the front. This is one of two, the other is being spoilt on the kitchen windowsill with a gifted Chilli Plant. And on the right a trailing tomato plant. There are several around the garden, I use them to bulk out hanging baskets and make everything in the garden useful.

In the greenhouse next door we have the courgette plant which was also a gift and is doing amazingly well. I would like to grow more of these next year so we can try a few deep fried stuffed courgette flowers.
This is the housemate of the courgette. It is a melon plant (another gift), I am not sure how melon will cope in the famous Scottish weather but so far it is doing well!!

What a Difference the Sun Makes

It is amazing what a little sunshine can do to a vegetable patch. I went down just the other day and had a seat among the growings on. Everything looked so healthy, and HUGE! Everything had been trying its best to make the most of the sunshine. We are defiantly going to get a good crop of Runner Beans this year, much to my surprise as they were looking pretty unhappy for a while, what with the wind that whistles over the hill and across the garden.

The beans are growing crazy. One managed to produce two beans! Way ahead of the other plants, not sure why it chose to be so early!
The peas too are going mad. Check out the graph at the bottom to keep track of the farms produce this year.
Raspberry bushes are coming on a treat!
The last minute decision to plant carrots seems to be paying off!
We lost a couple of Brussel plants in the beginning but the remainder are looking SO healthy I think we are going to be inundated with Sprouts.
We have had a few potatoes from the garden but there are plenty more under there for us to find!
The strawberry patch is producing a few fruit but the main purpose is to get some nice runners off them so we can beef up the strawberry patch next year.


The garlic is also looking good. It has been through a lot in the past what with sheep and a strimmer attack but we hope that they have pulled through.

The Mushrooms

I am a mushroom growing failure. It's true. No matter how hard I try or what kit or starter pack I buy and attempt I have never been able to get the silly things to grow.

But I still persevere and I attempted yet another pack (a gift from Farm Guy). This pack was to grow Button Mushrooms. I followed the instructions but I was worried that I was fighting yet another losing battle when it said to put the mushroom box into a warm dark place. The only place we had like that was the airing cupboard which is currently missing a wall... see here...

But I dutifully put it in there for the 8-10 days before removing and placing on a windowsill. I saw white tendils across the surface.... hurray!! Nope, not hurray, instructions said you don't want that, cover them up if you see any of them! Bye first ever sightings of mushroom growth...

I checked today however and would you believe it....

My first ever mushroom!! It isn't the world's biggest and I don't think it'll make a meal but it sure looks better than anything I have ever grown! Let's hear it for this little mushroom! Perhaps there will be more.... I shall keep an eye out for his mushroomy friends!

Perhaps the trick IS to let the cat sit on them.....

A Same Kind of Different As Me - Booksneeze

I have joined a book review website and this is my first review of the latest book:

A Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

This book tells the true life story of how an unlikely friendship between a White Texan Art dealer and a Black homeless man when this Texan Millionaire decides to help at a local homeless shelter. Denver Moore starts his life as a 'free' slave involved in the crop-sharing era in Louisianan. During this time, while Ron Hall was securing himself as a well known in the Art Dealing world, although not without his own difficulties, Denver is picking cotton for a Louisiana land owner, 'The Man'. The cotton is never enough to pay off the store where supplies are bought on credit and so the 'free' men are trapped in a continuing cycle. Denver eventually decides to make a new start and jumps on a passing train...

I hadn't heard of this book before and it wasn't one that I would normally choose, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down. Written from the point of view of both men it allowed the reader to see the struggles of homelessness, and indeed slavery, in a whole new light. It also allowed the reader to question their own motives when 'doing good' or offering help to those less fortunate. Denver Moore's insightful and humbling opinions on life are inspiring.

Also get your hankies by your side, Ron Hall's discussions on his wife's battle with cancer will bring a tear to the eye of anyone. And again the strength of this unlikely friendship is shown with Denver Moore's unfaltering beliefs and strength, combined with Ron Hall's belief in this homeless man leave you feeling a warmth inside.

I would recommend this book to anyone, and I will. The way that both men describe some incidents in their own words allows a deeper understanding of the truth that there are always two sides to every story and that it is always what is on the inside that counts.

www.booksneeze.com