Talking of crops

Well, I was the other day.

It was on Friday that I picked the first peas of the year. There's something very special about the first picking, even though the peas are always very good when they go from the garden to the plate in no more than 30 minutes on any day. The first runner beans should be ready in a week or two.

On Friday I also lifted my entire crop of potatoes, onions and garlic. The garlic took very little time as the entire crop had failed. The onions weren't much better and those that had done anything are no bigger than shallots! And to think that we finished last year's crop only three or four weeks ago - both onions and garlic. The potatoes were an experiment - which didn't work. I have grown potatoes in the past, although not for many years, but this year I bought three planter bags with 15 seed potatoes as a special offer. There were just enough potatoes for one meal. I will not be repeating the experiment next year.

I also picked the first of the gooseberries and found a few more blackcurrants. Most of the blackcurrants were picked three weeks back. The raspberry canes produced a handful of fruit, but that is very early as they are autumn-fruiting canes. And this year, for the first time in many years, I managed to beat the birds to some of the cherries. All of three of them, and the birds have got the rest.