I spy with my herbaceous eye

So the garden has undergone exponential growth in the last two weeks, maybe due to the organic fertiliser the fertilising fairy left during her recent visit, but wether the scattering of her fecal goodness with great gusto is the cause of the growth or not the veg garden is flourishing.

The cucumbers in the north garden are doing exceptionally well, with at least 4 identified snozcumbers and one potentially new species, the princess named this pencilum dickum, it's strictly Latin name. The cucumbers in the east of the estate have not shared in their counterparts success, partly due to being shaded by the estates vintage car port. The east garden does have other success stories however, this week saw the conception of our first black jack zucchini a great relief after weeks of fruitless flowering. The other main growth has been in the adjacent lot, the steroid pumpkins. This species is aggressive in its growth, taking over all of its own available space and infringing upon their neighbours. However as is the danger with all steroids it seems to have rendered them unable to procreate, their bulky muscle leaves proving it impossible for their little reproductive flowers to reach the surface. Whilst artificial insemination has been considered the brute strength of these beasts have proved a great deterrent, even for the fertilising fairy and her nimble fingers.

Over in the western gardens all is well in the herb section, the mint recovering well after the latest harvest for Vietnamese salads and alcoholic beverages. The pepper plants however appear to have failed after initial promising growth, a number of saplings were moved to the eastern estate to see if they would fair any better.

The Garden of Eden...

I've taken quite the fancy to this little garden of Eden that we are slowly but surely, cultivating. The time that one can while away just inspecting the garden is quite phenomenal. This week has seen the biggest bounty sown from the land; basil, parsley, chives for cooking, Mint for lovely fresh drinks and finally our first tomato! The tomatoes are small, of the Roma variety, but boy was I proud when the first one turned its orangy red! YUM!

The growth that our garden has experienced in the past four weeks but particularly the last one is quite remarkable! The tomatoes have grown about 10inches taller, the new leaves on all plants are noticeable, large yellow flowers on the zucchini, cucumber and watermelon and large green leaves on the pumpkin, that threatens to submerge the whole garden into perpetual darkness! Even with doom threatening, I can't be happier, the garden is a flurry of excitement and a hive of activity! I would never have thought I would say, or write this, but I get a pang of excitement as I walk out the door each morning to see what has become of our garden of Eden!

Like a Phoenix from the Ashes

Well the coriander shriveled and died as was to be expected, the Princess being new to this gardening malarkey was most upset, this being her first venture and all, but on closer inspection it appeared all was not lost. In amongst the dried, shriveled fronds of the coriander sprouted new life, it was at a very delicate stage of its life  and would take careful nurturing if it was to survive, the Princess proved obliging. She sped to grab her 'shears' and set about trimming not only the coriander but the whole estate with all her might. Her over zealous pruning may have led to a few plants losing there leaves a little prematurely but on the whole the garden seemed to enjoy its mid summer haircut.

As the estate covers thousands of square centimeters it was over in the grill and rotisserie section that tongues were wagging. Today marked a Jorktanical, if not World first, the barbecued meringue. As the AGA in the main house was temporarily out of action and the manservant had began to prepare a beautiful meringue for the households supper it was decided to take pioneering action and use the BBQ as an impromptu oven. After careful calculation and hours of peering through the specially designed 'meringue peephole' the most perfect meringue ever cooked on a BBQ was soon being troughed into the hungry stomachs of the estate owners and workers, I true culinary success. 

A new addition...

It's interesting that you don't realise what you need/want until you have everything else except for that thing...our herb garden is rather extensive filled with the usual suspects; parsley, rosemary, thyme, chives, sage, basil the list goes on. Recently, however, it seems that every dish that we have gone to create needed one herb that our little strip of paradise didn't have...coriander! The manservant quickly got to work and on one expedition to the shops he brought home coriander with roots. Whilst he was scurrying away in the kitchen making some-questionable-Dhal I got on with planting the new addition. The space is limited and I'm not sure how well I did at selecting the right space for it. I have limited knowledge of coriander other than its yumminess and its ability to make almost anything taste divine but hopefully it will do well in my chosen spot... Watch this space!!

Day 1 in the Jortanicals...

Yesterday the Jorktanicals were visited by a somewhat agitated visitor. This [lets call him] monster was intrigued by the beautiful gardens that lay around him and decided to go on an adventure. He started on the herbs; a plethora of herby goodness and heavenly aromas intoxicated the little monster and drove him for a while, slightly insane. He ravaged though the herbs laying his scent on everything he passed, which I'm sure will add a new dimension to any dish they are used in, before moving on to the innocent baby watermelons. This morning, surrounding said watermelons were large paw-like prints large enough to make little puddles when the manservant decides to grace this beautiful garden with a drink. Today was such a day, and what a glorious sight ( see photos). Manservant took it upon himself to water the Jorktanicals and boy were they glad! It's been a hot few weeks with little rain to quench the thirst of the foliage that rest in the gardens. Lets hope the manservant keeps up his duties and we enjoy a long and fruitful summer in the Jorktanicals!!turrah!