Bull’s blood and Oxhearts in the vegetable garden

One might be forgiven for thinking our vegetable garden rather sanguine and somewhat gruesome. It is enough to repulse a vegetarian. But it sounds worse than it is. I was prompted to thinking about the names we give vegetables as I was planting the follow-up crop of beetroots. The beets are called Bull’s blood, and happen to be growing alongside a bed of Oxheart tomatoes.

I thought the vegetable garden should be old-fashioned this season. Planted with old favourites, instead of all the colourful and exotic heirloom varieties that I tend to favour.

It all started with the bed of Sicilian violet cauliflowers. A bed that I did not mark as having been planted. I arrived one weekend, with excited anticipation of seeing the young sprouted seedlings. Only to find the bed freshly cleaned. I was horrified. But, I realised what a nightmare it is for us to keep track of all the plantings and distinguishing the lesser known vegetables from the weeds. Sometimes tomatoes can be treasured vegetables. But, when they come up all over the beds after composting the garden from our compost bins, they can become ‘weeds’.

To assist in keeping track of when the vegetables are not weeds, I started placing planting indicators in the freshly planted beds. However, I think the snails caught onto this arrangement. They seem to have become very adept at using the planting indicators as signposts for where the next tasty morsels are soon to appear.

I have consequently lost a complete bed of basil and coriander to the marauding snails. The little magic-performers make seedlings disappear overnight. I have decided that I will keep on planting the bush beans as fast as they destroy my neat rows. Just as I thought we were winning the battle of the bush bean, I walked, pre-dawn, into the garden only to catch 30 snails eating the little plants. They left only the flowers and young beans on the stripped stalks. Needless to say, it was their last meal at Towerwater.

Snails making bean plants disappear 

Bean plants post snail visit

Well, I have enough young seedlings to re-plant in the places of the destroyed beans, but it does mess with the look of my beds. On reflection, I think the reason why I am not companion planting in a big way, is that I get so much pleasure from seeing the neat rows of the same plant in a bed.

The mealies have at last started to reach the height for which I was hoping. I love the different heights and textures of the vegetable garden. This is accentuated by the bean trellis, tomato stakes as well as the natural height variations between the mealie plants and the cucurbits, amongst others.

I decided not to replace the brinjal plant that I lost to a cutworm. I try to ignore the gaping hole in the otherwise neat row of plants. But it still bothers me. I had to stop myself from buying a replacement at the nursery.  Buying a tray of six brinjal plants would have left me with a bigger problem. Where do I plant the remaining five in an already full garden?! 

Carrots and beetroot

The orange sweet potato plants turned out to have a different growth pattern. They have long runners snaking into the pathways. The white sweet potatoes with the pink skin, tend to make a bushier plant before sending out runners. On early mornings, I have to guide sweet potato runners back to their bed.

The pumpkin and butternut seeds, I decided to plant in the middle of their beds this year. This is an attempt to try to contain them to their beds. Instead of simply letting them grow all over neighbouring beds, crowding out other vegetables.

On Saturday, I planted the last available empty bed with coriander, sweet peppers, salad tomatoes, beetroot and carrots, as follow up crops for the summer months. The baby marrows have started off the summer harvest season at Towerwater. The names of the crops might remind one of an animal farm, but in the Towerwater garden, all vegetables are equal.