All is serene, and when to take a holiday

Quite frankly everything has gone rather quiet on the gardening front - in both the allotment and the flower garden. It’s rather unnerving. I find I’m looking for something to go wrong. Must be paranoid gardener syndrome.

I’ve now decided that (in the UK) some time in the first 3 weeks in June is the ideal time to take an early season holiday. That’s assuming you have a valued friend who will water and pinch out the side shoots on the tomatoes - and that you haven’t got school age children of course.

This year I went away in early May which was a bit of a mistake as I was still rushing to sow seeds and plant some veg out at the last minute. Unfortunately this great discovery has come after countless years of holidaying at the wrong time and too late to benefit me this year - as I’ve already come back! Although, to be honest, once I’m at my holiday destination I soon forget about the garden - out of sight out of mind as far as I’m concerned. Can I think that and be a real gardener? I think so. Still, I think my discovery merits consideration for next year.

Meanwhile everything is coming along nicely. I’ve got my first few Marketmore cucumbers appearing on the plants in pots outside. See picture below. I swear they are looking very polished and extra shiny - must be that milk regime! The little “thorns” do drop off as the cucumber gets bigger.

Inside the greenhouse tomatoes, chilli peppers and all female cucumbers are getting into their stride. My sweet peppers Round of Hungary , an early variety, are also developing well. It’s a long time since I’ve grown a round sweet pepper, mostly I’ve grown the long tapered ones.

Last year the long sweet pepper I grew looked exactly like a large chilli pepper I was also growing. Frequent mix ups caused cries of distress whenever a chilli in sheep’s clothing was eaten raw in salads and sandwiches. Not good for the nerves or the mouth. This year will be different.

Finally the tomatoes in pots outside are also doing well. As usual the cherry tomatoes Sungold are well in advance of the others. It really is a reliable early variety and has a superb taste as well. All we need is some sun to hurry them along and get them ripe.