The orchard isn\u2019t the only thing that\u2019s fully booked in our back garden. We have overly ambitions plans for the limited space in the rest of the lawn, and I fear my most recent Thompson and Morgan order went a bit over the top (the spuds in particular \u2013 do I really need 2.5 kg each of first earlies, second earlies and<\/i> a maincrop?). <\/p>\n You're chitting me<\/p><\/div>\n But I can\u2019t resist potatoes, the way they taste dug straight from the ground on a sultry summer evening, boiled until their skins are just flaking off and tossed with mayonnaise, salt, pepper and chives, with barbecued meat, a glass of cold Pinot Grigio and the scent of citronella candles.<\/p>\n The potatoes, bulbs, herbs and climbing nasturtiums are my domain, and Richard does the vegetable beds, the tomato greenhouse, the sunflowers and sweetpeas \u2013 and the heavy digging. We got a late start last year because we didn\u2019t move in until March, with some of our tomatoes withering on the vine in November, but now we\u2019re fully prepared for a long and prosperous harvest.<\/p>\n Post-script: It was only today that we dug out the last of the carrots and leeks.<\/p>\n Dusk was already falling, along with a light drizzle, earlier this afternoon as I pushed brown ovoid objects repeatedly into heavy wet earth. Carelessly dressed against the cold, my muddy fingertips going numb, I worked the trowel and hoped I … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/files\/2011\/02\/ThePlan.jpg\" "\\"ThePlan\\"")
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