Fruits of our Labours
As September slides by the damage limitation exercise that is the garden after a long summer slips into history and we can relax a little, enjoy the cooler, golden early autumn days and begin to look forward to the prospect of autumn and winter projects. It's also the time to savour the fruits of our labours as the grapes, apples and pears ripen and are picked in the orchards. Plus there is still much to enjoy on the floral front as Dahlias and Chrysanthemums strut their stuff in the cut flower area and Colchicums and Cyclamen hederifolium bring a surprise splash of colour to the bulb borders.
Growing unfeasibly large vegetables is not a big part of what we are about but the occasional whopper is good fun and certainly generates a few comments from the visiting public. The secret lies in the seed selection. Sure you can "pump up" a normal onion with a body building regime of high inputs but to really make the big league your vegetable Arnie Schwarzneggers need to be genetically programmed to be beefy. Companies such as Robinsons and and Medwyns specialise in breeding these bruisers and with the right DNA and a little extra TLC it's relatively easy to produce some eye popping, football sized onions or cabbage that will be the talk of the neighbourhood and might even win you a prize at the local show.
