We started with a visit to the allotment so I could show Himself what I'd been up to earlier in the week. The small green mound in the foreground is a gooseberry bush given to me by a fellow plot-holder. He had pruned it fiercely to dig it up so I will not got fruit this year but I look forward to next year's produce. Behind that, in the same bed, are the Red Epicure broad beans. I grew these for the first time last year and was very impressed with them. The seed inside the pod is a lovely mahogany red and the beans taste wonderful. The bed behind them contains most of the potatoes. Just out of sight in the left hand corner of the plot, is a clump of last year's chard, still producing good leaves, though I suspect it will run to seed before long. Fortunately I have chard Bright Lights and the heritage chard Samara coming along nicely in the cold greenhouse to follow on.
Then we decided a trip to Bridlington was in order, but the wind made it a very cold and bracing experience. We consoled ourselves with fish and chips for lunch though. As you can see from the harbour view, the tide was well out. There's a brilliant old fashioned sweet shop there near the harbour and we bought 100g each (I think that is the diet equivalent of the 'quarter' we used to get as children) - I chose Edinburgh Rock and Himself had Midget Gems. It doesn't take much to transport you back years!
Here's an update on my tricotyledon aubergine, Black Beauty. Its first true leaves have also come in a trio too. It's difficult to tell if the next bunch will also be a trio. There's one large one but I don't want to damage the growing tip by poking about in my eagerness to see, so I'll let nature take its course for a few more days. Dan in Canada http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/ has found a tricotyledon tomato and I've heard of a few more too, mainly on the solanum family. I am growing some 'true' potato seeds from the hard green berry occasionally set after a potato has flowered. These a very small and fine at the moment - a bit like cress - but in a tray of maybe 50 or so, I have a tricotyledon and one quadri/quatro? cotyledon. When these are large enough to pot up I'll make sure I do the oddities too.
11 comments:
You really can't go wrong with fish and chips followed by sweets, yum. It will be interesting to see if our tricots keep growing in threes. I am going to save seed from my tom and see if it will grow more next season. That is if it lives.
Thanks for the link.
Being virtually equidistant from any seaside, when in Whitby last summer, I was so hugely impressed with seeing proper salty sea - in fact I almost forgave the Bracing Weather!
Hurrah, piccies of the plot! Looks very smart and tidy (I expect no less {smile}) and the soil doesn't look too bad from here.
The wind here yesterday was more than a tad blustery and cold, hope you were well wrapped up for your seaside visit.
Did the sweetshop have liquorice comfits?
Hi Dan - I did some googling about tricots when I first noticed mine. It was reported that they were weaker but I can't say mine is any different from all the others. I can't see why your tomato won't live - and I'm sure I read that your proportion of tricots in its seed will be much higher than usual.
It was a bit cold Hazel - but not as bad as today - been finishing chickeny things in a howling gale!
Oh yes, Bilbo - all the wonderful things you can remember and lots you had forgotten!
Is the tricotyledon aubergine a mutation or a recognised strain? Interesting stuff!
My other half always chooses midget gems too!
I suppose it's a mutation silverpebble. I remember reading the proportion of tricotyledons - something like 1 in 49 - but I don't think there are really that many around. I'd have seen them before!
Good luck with your gooseberry, they are one of my favourite soft fruit and nothing compares to a really ripe gooseberry does it? I think this year will be a bumper crop for soft fruit because they will have enjoyed the hard Winter.
I was just going to say that I have a tricotyledon true potato seedling as well. Fascinating and I'll have to stay tuned to see your twos developments.
I do love a gooseberry myself Matron. I have 2 in the garden at home but the offer of another for the allotment was too good to pass up!
Hi Ottawa Gardener - it seems to be mainly the solanum family that do this tricot thing doesn't it? I'll be interested to find out what yours does.
After I'd been reading about the di/tricotyledons here, I noticed something on a couple of my pea seedlings, where the pea in the roottrainer is producing two or even three separte shoots from under the soil. It's only happened on about 4-5 seedlings and those are all in one type (Hugh's Huge, if I recall correctly). Now it might be quite normal for peas or just side shoots appearing from the stalk under the soil, but I hadn't noticed it before and it only struck me because I was peering at them (as you do - peering at seedlings is the logical next step to stroking seeds, isn't it?!) and remembered your post when I saw the extra shoots. So thanks for opening my eyes again! Have you noticed anything similar on yours or do you know anything about this?
No Miss Fuggles - I haven't noticed this with peas - I haven't grown Hugh's Huge though - I wonder if it's a particular feature of this variety? I'll have to go out and peer at me seedling again I think!
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