Does anyone remember the 'Bens'?

Just a quickie post for anyone who remembers the Bens. I didn't really know what to expect from them, never having grown French beans before. The resulting plants are smaller than I thought they would be but they have produced an awful lot of beans. As you can see, the girls are enjoying the fruits of their labours, dare I say more than if we'd bought the beans in Tesco?

Courgettes? What Courgettes?

Yesterday I realised the major flaw in my Grand Radish Project. The guttering is positioned very conveniently at beak height for any chicken who chooses to perch on the gate nearby. I've hurriedly nailed up an old plant tray and some windmills by the top of the gate in the hope of discouraging the chooks from perching on top of it. The appearance of my garden once again lurches wildly into 'eccentric'.

Also pictured is my new 'Bens bed', created in the patch previously inhabited by the diseased courgettes. Rachel's courgette is in view in the distance looking chipper in it's blue pot. The borlotti and french beans are leaping skyward and I've sprinkled radish seeds between them as a catch crop. So thankfully it looks like I'm not going to have a huge wasted space in the garden after all.

Now, my next problem is the butternut squash, it's burgeoning fast in this weather so I need to give some thought to what to do with it before it reaches out into the road and starts lassoing passing traffic.

Bens update as requested!

The garden seems to be motoring along nicely now, the recent combination of heat and torrential downpours have caused a frenzy of veggie activity.

The children's' 'bens' are just poking up above the soil. The Borlotti beans are doing well too, sprouting up much quicker than the ones I planted in the front garden which makes me wonder if the front garden is sunny enough for them. The courgette is struggling a bit with the extreme hot weather so it's receiving a bit of intensive care, watering twice a day and I've hung towels on the washing line in strategic places to shield it from the worst of the sun. The good old reliable Jerusalem Artichokes are towering like giants over everything, providing much needed shade for the lollo rosso.

Cropping is beginning now, over the weekend we harvested petit pois and broad beans and my first crop of mixed cut and come again salad leaves has been exhausted, the pea shoots are doing well and should be really to go in the salad very soon.

Thinking ahead, I'm in the process of drying out some seeds from Rachel's pumpkin. If the allotment goes ahead we can plant them out there next year.

Now all I need is the radish sky scraper to be installed, Adam has made noises about putting it up tonight so watch this space!

Really proud of my little gardeners

Please excuse the self indulgent Mummy post but here goes. Xanthe brought home 3 packs of seeds from nursery yesterday, they're part of the Morrisons's Let's Grow 'Big Bean Challenge' (whatever that is when it's at home). Being the big sister, Willow had to get in on the act too and both girls were really excited at the prospect of their own French Beans.

I got compost and little pots out of the garage and left them to it. Half an hour later, without any help from me, they'd filled the pots with compost, planted the seeds, watered them and written 'bens' (sic) on the plant marker in the pack.

They're now lined up with the borlotti beans from yesterday and the girls are anxiously waiting to fill in their bean growth chart.