Let's Nigella the garden!

The branches are becoming bare, and the smell of slow rottening leafes is spreading. My veggies are coming to a culmination, tomatoes hangs so heavy that I need to prop them up with sticks. It is harvest time. This year I planted a couple of Artichoke plants (they were on sale and it felt like a little bit of extra luxury). I planted them all but forgot to read the label that came with them, and I didn’t realise that they grow to a height of ca 1m 40cm and they need a lot of space (I planted them next to the very productive tomato plants) so only one survived. But thanks god for that, there is only so much artichoke one can eat. This one little enormous plant is a monster of 5 heads! But they are so yummy !!  And it really is such a romantic luxury, I cooked one in just salted water and a little bit of lemon juice and my husband and I shared the leaves and dipped them in some homemade mayonnaise. To that a glass of chilled white wine, and suddenly all stressed from the day is gone, like magic.

So my plan for next year is to devote my raised beds to lovely, yummy, romantic, luxurious veggies, like the artichoke, like the plump red tomatoes, like maybe some courgettes? I want to plant them not only in my raised beds but also in my flower beds, an artichoke is a spectacular, structural plant as is the brussel sprouts (my has turned into a mutant size!), they could add a lot of interest to my flower beds that tend to be too restrained. I need something more wild in there, something that would reflect who owns the garden, that it isn't a nice old lady called Hilda. I think my mutant veggies are just the thing.

This year I also tried to grow root veggies from pots and it went very well, just needed to add some ash from our fireplace to the soil and the carrots really loved it. They won’t grow big but they will be sweet and tender and yes, luxurious.

I do not run a farm or a big commercial veggie field, I have a small kitchen garden and since my cooking for me is a creative outlet, my garden should be too, and it should look like one aswell, and contain things that inspire me. Make it romantic, passionate and sensual. Yes that’s right, let’s all Nigella the garden !