Passing our dream home on the outskirts of the Panshanger Aerodrome we have developed allotment envy. It is not only because they have a proper green house, a couple of polytunnels and quarter of an acre to go wild about growing fruits and veg, but their efforts are actually blessed with results you can admire from the road: sizable and good-looking.
Our vegetables are all finally out of the nursing warmth of the greenhouse and in their assigned rows of the raised beds. The grassy leeks poke their heads through fresh compost, runner beans climb the hand made twine trellis, young dill presents its tiny florets to the sun and finger-like courgettes tempt us with their edible flowers.
The plants may look juvenile in comparison to our neighbors’ and by default are not destined to win horticultural shows but we are incredibly proud of our plugs and seedlings. They hold a promise that in a couple of months our garden will look absolutely stunning. That is of course if the butterflies will not turn it to a nursery for caterpillars. They succeeded last year…greedy critters!