Growing potatoes

I’ve just harvested my first-ever crop of salad potatoes.

I hadn’t known what to expect. Three Jazzy seed potatoes were planted on the patio in March, each in a small black polythene bag (provided by Thompson and Morgan).  In mid-June, the foliage yellowed and died, so I cut it down. Then I emptied one of the bags and was delighted to discover that one potato had become about 20 of a size large enough to eat, plus a lot more that hadn't got much bigger than peas. The Thompson and Morgan website talks about 80 tubers from one seed potato, so maybe I didn’t water them enough. 

 Anyhow, there’s enough from that bag for several meals, and I have yet to investigate the two other containers.

More about Jazzy at:
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/potatoes/second-early/potato-jazzy/t56501TM

Open Garden Squares Weekend

On June 13 and 14 a record number of hidden and little-known squares in London will be welcoming visitors as part of Open Garden Squares weekend. There are 224 to see, ranging from the historic and traditional to the new and experimental. They include classic London squares, roof gardens, community allotments, urban wildlife and ecology centres, as well as the gardens of historic buildings, restaurants, schools and shops. One of my favourites from previous years is the Garden Barge Square at Tower Bridge Moorings, Downings Rd, Southwark, (left) where gardens have been created on the decks of barges to form an inside-out floating garden,. There's even a 'tree barge' with a square of quince trees in its centre.

The weekend is being staged in association with the National Trust, which has seven participating gardens, including that of Fenton House in Hampstead.

Details are at: http://www.opensquares.org/index.html