veg is beautiful!

Kale 'Cavalo nero'

 

Courgette 'Costata Romanesco' is ridged, so you get this cute star shape
when you chop it. I had this one for dinner last night. It was yum.



I am in love with this bean. It's a dwarf bean called 'Yin Yang' and it's
absolutely gorgeous, to look at and to eat.



Today's haul

Ahh summer. You just keep giving and giving. In today's box we have: cabbage, purple beans, kohl rabi, radish, summer squash, lettuce and courgettes. Always courgettes. A never-ending amount of ruddy courgettes.




Wildlife

Red admiral on Phalaris arundinacea 'Picta'

Bumbleybees on Echinops ritro

Orphan field mouse on my palm. Mouse lived a week in a basket in my kitchen, and we
fed him puppy milk from a tiny paint brush, but eventually he gave up the ghost.

Three bishy-barny-bees sittin on an apple
(reckon thass wor we call ladybirds in norfolk, my gell)



One of the (now enormous) chickens, aged 18 weeks.



The Bishop's Garden

I've been copping a bit of flack for not posting anything in a while (Harris!), so I thought I'd get stuck in again with a bit about this gorgeous, completely hidden four acre walled garden right in the heart of Norwich. It's manged for the Bishop of Norwich by gardening chums of mine, head gardener Simon and his assistant Will.

The double borders are stunning, and Simon is an excellent plantsman. I love going to visit because he fills his shrub borders with all kinds of rare exotics and subtropical wonders. The top soil in this protected walled garden is black and crumbly and about 2m deep, having been cultivated for about 1000 years by monks. Hence Simon can grow pretty much whatever he likes, and I'm so jealous I could spit.

The garden is open at certain times of the year for charity, and is well worth a visit. More info here.

The herbaceous borders

Pachystegia insignis, beautiful felty-leafed perennial native to New Zealand.
When they open, the flowers are white with yellow centres.

Musschia wollastonii, a rare shrubby perennial also called "Madeira Giant Bellflower".
Will return and photograph when it flowers - it's a spectacular sight, by all accounts.

Slightly fuzzy shot of Sinocalycalycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine', an unusual hybrid between
Calycanthus floridus and Sinocalycanthus chinensis (say those names with your mouth full).

I simply love the flower buds on this Grindelia chiloensis, which are filled with a hard, smooth resin,
which is extremely soft to the touch. Bright yellow daisy-like flowers follow.