The first tomatoes are ready for harvesting. Hooray!
You don't grow tomatoes in Scotland because it makes economic sense, although they have a flavour that money can't buy. Surprisingly these are outdoor tomatoes, from our sheltered back garden:
The ones in the greenhouse are refusing to ripen, probably because it is shaded by a pyrocanthus and holly hedge. (The hedge is home to an extended family of house sparrows so is accepted as a fact of life.)
I still have high hopes of a good crop before summer is out, this year of all years.
It is raining today so I am looking back over the pictures I have taken in the wildflower meadow which was sown last autumn. It is ready for hay harvest now but before the chop here are some of the residents when they were in their flowering prime, No names - just enjoying the shapes and colours.
Corn Marigold
Kidney Vetch
And here is a picture of the meadow which has provided all the above:
Yesterday we went for a walk on a familiar route. A farm lane/bridle path that leads into the Pentland Hills just outside Edinburgh. We regularly walk this path and there is always some eyecatching novelty to stop you in your tracks. Due to the virus restrictions we haven't been this way for about ages. The flora and fauna haven't missed us and are thriving.
First to greet us this chicory flower:
Next a novelty I had to look up. Yes it looks a bit like white ragwort or even blackberry flowers but this is Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica)
Here's a picture with the leaf to help identification
The big attraction is the knapweed which is proving a magnet for many species
Another insect magnet is this:
My best guess is Hawkweed, but "dandelion like flowers" covers an extensive range of plants. A check of the leaves suggests Leafy hawkweed (Hieracium umbellatum)
As we get higher a heathland favourite appears
A bank of harebells
Now here is the most camera shy wildflower . My camera's autofocus is fooled every time I try to get a close up. It is Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis)
The much maligned ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) is hosting an insect party
Another commonplace plant: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Looks like Cow Parsley - I reckon this is a Hogweed seedhead
Next a real surprise up on the moor: Wild Basil?
Clinopodium vulgare
Not to confused with White Horehound (Marubium vulgae) found a quarter of a mile further on
Last to feature although the plant is long gone these Sweet Cicely seeds are hanging on in their characteristic configuration.
Now the first beans are cropping it is time to clear away the broad beans and early peas. But not to worry, the replacements are ready to go out into the vacant space:
Lettuce, Endive/Chicory
I have got a bit carried away with my seed order experimenting with endive and chicory, as well as a wide range of lettuces. Hopefully this will mean a harvest extending into the colder months ahead. Here they are in the gap site. There are four of each variety which I have been careful to mark with a label. The lettuces are Marveille de Quatre Saisons, Lollo Rosso, Freckles and Gilaad. The endives are all called Cornet de (Insert Name of French/Italian Town) except Pancalieri which is a curly form of endive commonly called Frisee Lettuce.
Away from the Chicory/Endive/Lettuce confusion the bean and cucurbit zone is going hell for leather, except for those Climbing French and Runner Beans on the left which are being a bit coy. (The wigwam on the right is Barlotti beans)
Right in front is the row of Dior dwarf French beans which you can see in the first picture . I may have overcrowded the squashes which are now running rampant across their neighbours. A random sunflower has popped up in the middle of the picture. As you can see it is all green currently. This includes the potato patch which will soon be 'on the turn'.
Those yellowing in the foreground are some Charlotte I planted as an afterthought once the maincrop was already in.
