Edibles in the Garden

It would be great to have lots of edibles at all times in the garden, however, at this time of year I'm quite limited. I've only a few things I can eat but this will change soon as I've many seeds growing strongly and it won't be long until I'll have a daily supply of organic salad amongst other things.

Here's what's edible in the garden right now...

Left: Calabrese (purple broccoli) - I've had limited success with this in past and present years however I'll keep trying. I've been using what I have in stir fries and soups.

The plant behind the Calabrese is white stemmed chard. It was grown from seed last spring, over Wintered well and is giving me lots of Spring leaves to eat. 

Above: Chard growing strongly. I enjoy it in soups and find it cooks well in the slow cooker. It is good stir fried too. I imagine it will begin to bolt soon so I need to get eating!

Above: Perpetual spinach, grown from seed last Spring and coming up after lying dormant over Winter. Something is eating on it (not sure what).

Of course I've herbs that can be used daily as required. Many of my herbs are in the new herb box above. More on this can be found by clicking here. Below: Mint is thriving and begging to be used! Maybe some minted potatoes or mojitos soon!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Ornamental Cherry Tree

Spring weather brings Spring flowers... and there are currently lots of bulbs in bloom and flower blossoms on trees. The white and pink coloured flowering cherry trees are beautiful this time of year. 

I inherited this tree with the house and I assume it is some type of miniature cherry tree. I've tried to improve the shape of the tree (photo below) but have had only limited success so far. I'm not too sure how to bulk it out or if it's even possible at this stage, but the flowers are nice and I like the tree.

The best way to admire this tree is lying down in the grass looking up!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

New Cottage Style Plants for the Garden

The weather has been sunny, dry and warm (apart from some chilly evenings) and the garden centres have been packed out! I had some compost to get and of course I ended up buying some new plants (varieties pictured).

I've been wanting to add some new cottage-style plants to the garden so I bought a few small plants (which I think are all perennial) to add the the borders. I seem to have gone for mostly blue/ purple/ pinks and a random splash of yellow with the Achillea; they were 5 for £10 ($17 US dollars). These have all been  planted into a border and growing well. Its great to see all the growth this time of year! The slugs and snails are active too, and I've noticed lots of green aphids - so I'm patrolling my plants regularly. 

I've also manged to get some seed sown. I've sowed quite a variety of salad seed, carrot, chard and others direct into the ground and some seed sown in a greenhouse (peppers, tomato, etc). It seems the perfect weather for seed germination! Lots to do this time of year! Enjoy your weekend in the garden!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.