I harvested my crop of Borlotti beans today; here they are. I set on 60 plants, but the wet summer encouraged a plague of slugs of Biblical proportions across the UK, and these miserable few beans are all that managed to grow. Oh well, these things happen.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEAxJ6zGiWg&mode=related&search
9 comments:
You seem to be such a gifted gardener that I am surprised at your disappointingly small harvest. Had I set out 60 plants my own harvest would have been even smaller than yours I am sure.
Our summer has been in stark contrast to your wet summer. We have had a very dry and hot summer. It has been so dry that I pretty much just gave up on most things. I had hoped to have abundant flowers and that didn't happen. What the 37 Celcius heat didn't kill, the deer did.
Our climate has been changing though and we, in truth, expected a miserably hot and dry summer. It is not the same climate as we enjoyed 50+ years ago in our youth. I am going to spend the winter working on a remodeling plan for the house that takes into account a hotter, drier climate and torrential rains when it does rain.
We have been talking about xeriscaping for a number of years now and I think we will forced into going that way. I hope that your countryside will always stay green, sans floods.
I enjoy looking at your photos.
You always amaze me with your pictures and your green thumb!
That paltry harvest makes for a lovely photo, though! I love the red shell. Perhaps even more lovely for its scarcity?
Steve, I thought you lived in London?
And Jan and April, what lovely words, and I think I'll save the meagre borlotti beans form this year for seed/beans next spring. Wait til I show you the next set of photos! Bit more of a respectable harvest, thank goodness.
Amalee Issa, thank you for the link to the beautiful photographs, especially of the rocks and herbs. It was so nice of you to think of me. I hope you are still recuperating well.
PS--Got you mixed up with April for the recovering part. So I hope you're well, as well!
LOL thank goodness you clarified that bit Jan! And April, I'm adding my best wishes for your speedy recovery.
No, we don't live in London. Maybe I misled you when I mentioned something about 'Country Life' magazine ( which I leafed through again yesterday when I took Becky to the ophthalmologist).
We live just about in the center of the USA. Our little town has a population of about 29,000. However, the larger metropolitan area has many millions of inhabitants. You can't tell when you leave one town and cross into the next. The other side of the road we live on is in another city but beyond the road are many miles of woodlands, streams and ponds. The more rural areas in our part of the country don't have enough people to keep the tax base up or enough children to keep all of the schools open. It is hard to make a good living away from the urban centers.
I do think ,though, that I should live in London. Or maybe outside of London-- just off the M5. Maybe in Devon or the Isle of Wight. All of those English country homes look so peaceful and lush with wonderful gardens. Becky's next appointment at the eye doctor is in March so I will have to wait until then to look at more pictures from the 'Country Life' magazine.
Oh I'm sorry your bean harvest wasn't good. Amazingly beans are our best crop this year (climbing french - well actually they're Ukrainian - beans and runners). Borlotti pods are so beautiful - hope you have a bumper crop next year.
Celia
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