It’s been raining heavily here for most of the day but late this afternoon the sun has come out and I’ve actually managed to snatch a couple of hours in the garden, an hour taking some photos and another hour doing some weeding and general maintenance.
Most of the seeds planted last weekend have come up now so we’re feeling pretty pleased with our efforts of last weekend. Not that sitting in a deckchair, in a vest to get a bit of sun on the body, poking seeds into compost is really that much hard work!
I had a good old mooch around in the veggie garden looking for signs of broad beans, spinach or potatoes breaking through but because they’re not under glass they are taking a bit longer to show their faces to the world.
Amazingly the asparagus had half a dozen shoots above the surface and, although I’d normally let them get a bit bigger than this before cutting them, Archie trod on this one snapping it off so I decided to give us an early treat with some asparagus for supper. So, it’s going to be asparagus and sun dried tomato risotto a bit later. I love the flavour of this delicious vegetable, grilled with a drizzle of olive oil and a few shavings of Parmesan. Yum.
How I love the first veggies out of the garden each year. There is something really special about the first dish of the year with home-grown stuff in it.
I don’t count herbs in my ‘first dish’ ritual because many of them are available to eat all year round. The herb garden is looking splendid at the moment – it was a bit sparse last year as it was newly planted up as my old herb garden had been dug up by the builders who built our patio. The rosemary has taken hold and is shooting up now as though it’s reaching for the stars. Both of the varieties of sage are flourishing, which gives me a great sense of satisfaction because I only bought the green common variety because the purple one seemed to be struggling. There is marjoram, thyme, parsley, coriander, chives, mint, rue and garlic too, all of which are romping away with this lovely mild wet spring we are having. Excellent.
It’s been a fantastic weekend despite dreary weather for the most part, but boy am I tired now. All I want to do is sleep……zzzzzzzzz
...........HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLIN...............
