A quick spring update

At the end of a busy week of family visiting and work, this is just a quick update on spring in the garden.

The mangetout peas (left, above) are growing well and starting to hold on to the supporting netting we put up last week.  The broad beans are flowering, but I can’t see any beans yet.  Strangely, the first October and November sowing don’t seem as advanced as the later (December) sowings.  They did suffer more from the cold weather, being taller when the frost came.  We picked some of the young top leaves to go in our salad today.

The Banksia rose is budding, but not flowering yet.  It’s a bit late this year, as it usually flowers in early April.

The lettuce seedlings we planted last month are nearly ready to eat and the first tulip is flowering.

A salad of leaves from the garden – lettuce, broad bean, oregano, lamb’s lettuce and sorrel – which we had for lunch today.  And (right) the apple tart we’ve made for tonight when our Occitan group has invited a theatre group to perform in the village hall, followed by a meal of ragout d’escoubille (Languedocien stew) (made by a caterer), wine, cheese and desserts provided by the members.

Indoors and on the balconies: tomato and pepper plants are all doing well, as are courgettes, cucumber and basil.  Today is the first hot day we’ve had and it feels as though we’ll be busy keeping up with the gardening over the next few weeks!