Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Onions or Flowers, Flowers or Onions

 

My onions really haven't liked the weather this Spring, in fact before they have even had chance put on full oniony growth they are already deciding to set seed.  So my choice has been onions or flowers, flowers or onions.

Now I love the glorious flower heads of all the alliums, and the thought of large onion flowers has me very tempted.  So each time I go out to the garden to get an onion for my cooking I have been checking the size of the bulb at the bottom of each stem.  If it's not big enough to be used for my tea the decision is made for me ... one more flower head left ready to bloom.  

The bees will love me. 🎕


I've not had a courgette off any of my plants this year, I would say this one is the nearest to developing.  All the veggies just need a little bit more sunshine and warmth.


But two potatoes that I had completely forgotten about in the kitchen, and had sprouted merrily away all by themselves, were stuck in a few inches of soil in a fit of 'waste not want not', and are now showing their faces just over a week later.

So although I've not had a lot of food from the garden this year, there is some to come and that makes me happy.

Mum is still in hospital and was really upset last week that she couldn't remember what her little bungalow looked like ... so I took a photo for her when we were there picking up the post.

Thank you for all your lovely comments over the last few posts while I've been too poorly to post much, things are improving ... for me, for Mum and hopefully for the garden.


Sue xx



32 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Haha ... you had me stumped for a moment there!!

      'Tea' = evening meal here in the north of England ... as in breakfast, dinner and tea. When we lived down South it was always breakfast, lunch and dinner, but now I'm home more Northernisms come into play. Tea is also a drink that I never have as it makes me really ill, so I never think of it as a drink when I'm writing. Sorry for the confusion. :-)

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    2. Ha ha!! I should have known.

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    3. Your comment and my answer created an interesting debate in the comments. 😄

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  2. Tea is a confusing word! A drink or a meal. In context it makes sense.
    I love the flowers you get when you let vegetables go to flower, herbs, too. Potatoes are good because they flower first, before setting more potatoes.

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    1. It really is, and in my currently befuddled mind I didn't even consider this. Vegetable flowers are beautiful aren't they, always so colourful and dainty. I also have flowering radishes and another potato plant in the raised bed near the shed, the bees love the flowers.

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  3. Glad things are gradually improving for your mum and you.

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    1. We are all getting there slowly ... me, Mum and the garden. :-)

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  4. Sorry to hear you have been poorly and that your Mum is still in hospital. Hope you both get sorted ASAP.
    As for veg outside - this year is so slow and that plus having to contend with next door neighbours cat is driving me nuts.
    We had Dinner and Tea until I went posh!!

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    1. Well it seems that I temporarily went posh, and now I'm common again. 😄🤣

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  5. Most of our first sowing of radishes went to seed before we'd even had a chance to pull any, the first sowing of spring onions didn't even appear. Such a strange weather year. Good to see you back Sue, and glad to read you and your Mum are both improving, albeit slowly. How thoughtful to take a photo for her - and her front garden looks lovely. xx

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    1. Radishes are fickle, demanding things aren't they. My last ones have really gone to seed so I'm going to enjoy the seed pods as a snack. 😀

      It's a communal garden laid mostly to grass, but Mum added to the patch under her window when she first moved in and for the last few years her lovely next-door neighbour has been keeping it tidy for her. ❤️

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  6. Lovely photo of Alan and your mum's pretty house, I hope it cheered her up! Sending healing wishes to you and your Mum.
    We Midlanders also call our evening meal "tea" and our daytime meal, "dinner". We must be right or school dinnerladies would be called lunchladies, wouldn't they? xxx

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    1. She was so relieved to see it and fix the image in her mind again. 🙂

      Yes, exactly that, dinnerladies (and Mum used to be one in the 60s) it MUST be called dinner ...at lunchtime. 😂🤣

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  7. So glad things are on the up for you all.
    I still refer to the evening meal as Tea and lunch as dinner 😀
    Alison in Wales
    PS I loved the Farmers Wife book

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the book, it's been one of my favourites this year. 😀

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  8. Lovely photo of your Mum's bungalow♥ I'm so pleased to hear you, your Mum and the garden are all getting there:) I stopped saying tea when I left the UK and I now say lunch and dinner. Take good care xxx

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    1. Oh you've just gone 'proper posh' then. 😄🤣

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  9. So glad to see your post - yesterday I was cogitating emailing to see if you were OK but decided not to with the logic that if you had too much going on to blog you didn't need superfluous clutter in your Inbox.

    Hugs and continued recovery to all, x

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    1. Thanks. ❤️ The computer has only been fired up for work recently and I've been too dizzy to do much on my phone, hence the prolonged absence.

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  10. Thinking of you all. Glad things are picking up slowly. I was given 4 courgette plants and I'm so excited by their glorious golden blooms

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    1. The flowers are glorious aren't they. ❤️

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  11. Glad to hear that you and your mum are getting better.

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  12. I'm finding things are picking up a little but now it's warming up and my fingers are crossed for your courgettes.
    Take care and hoping you feel loads better very soon. xx

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    1. I can't wait to be snowed under the weight of courgettes and frantically looking for recipes to use them up. 😄

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  13. I'm so glad you and your mum are recovering. It was a lovely idea of yours to take a photo of your mum's home for her. It must be distressing to be away from the bungalow for a long time. Alan looks well!
    re the garden: it's been such funny weather, cold, wet and miserable. None of our first sowing of spring onions at the allotment came up and our first calabrese plants went to flower very quickly with no sign of an actual head to harvest. We have had some juicy strawberries this week, broad beans (gone over far too quickly too) cauliflower ( full of slugs...yuk :( ) and some baby potatoes. The foliage on the potatoes looked awful so I dug up the potatoes and will use the bed for something else now. At home we have had 2 baby cucumbers so far with more developing because we now have a lean to greenhouse to protect them. The tomatoes are very slow too. There is also a baby pepper on my plant and I'm so excited! Isn't it lovely to eat fresh produce from the garden Sue :)
    Sending very best wishes to you all,
    Angie x

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    1. She's been in hospital for over four weeks now, she was upset she couldn't remember what home looked like.

      You've done much better than me with your veggies this year. 😀

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  14. I hope that you and your mother continue to recover well.

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  15. I hope that you and your Mum continue on the road to health. I will be thinking of you both.

    God bless.

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    1. Thank you, that means a lot. ❤️xx

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