Partly out of laziness and part curiosity I have left my broccoli to go to seed for a while to see what happens. The results as you can see are a mass of brilliant yellow flowers which have attracted a large number of bees and beneficial insects. There is a real benefit to growing flowers which attract pollinating insects to the vegetable patch. I need the space now so these are being cut down, but I will definitely plan some sort of flower patch for next year.
In another part of the garden I left one of last years parsnips to go to seed just to see what happens. Parsnips are a biennial plant, ie. they have a lifespan of two years. First year you get a lovely edible root, second year you get a flower and seeds. Bearing in mind that you must always use fresh parsnip seeds every year I might see if I can harvest some seeds from this one. It is currently about 5ft tall and still growing. Might even use these lovely leaves in a vegetable stock!
Finally, a close look at one of my giant beefsteak tomatoes in the greenhouse. These are my expensive F1 hybrid tomato
'Country Taste' and in the hope of growing a whopper I have trimmed each of the flower trusses down to just two flowers. Looking good!
Partly out of laziness and part curiosity I have left my broccoli to go to seed for a while to see what happens. The results as you can see are a mass of brilliant yellow flowers which have attracted a large number of bees and beneficial insects. There is a real benefit to growing flowers which attract pollinating insects to the vegetable patch. I need the space now so these are being cut down, but I will definitely plan some sort of flower patch for next year.
In another part of the garden I left one of last years parsnips to go to seed just to see what happens. Parsnips are a biennial plant, ie. they have a lifespan of two years. First year you get a lovely edible root, second year you get a flower and seeds. Bearing in mind that you must always use fresh parsnip seeds every year I might see if I can harvest some seeds from this one. It is currently about 5ft tall and still growing. Might even use these lovely leaves in a vegetable stock!
Finally, a close look at one of my giant beefsteak tomatoes in the greenhouse. These are my expensive F1 hybrid tomato 'Country Taste' and in the hope of growing a whopper I have trimmed each of the flower trusses down to just two flowers. Looking good!