Growth spurt in the garden

We went on holiday last week and when we came back we found the garden looking like this:

Garden on 28 June 

Firstly I'm thankful that nothing died in the week we were away and that it got by on the bit of rain we had. But secondly, look how much it's grown since I took this photo on 16 June,  just two weeks ago.

Garden on 16 June

In particular,  my runner beans are now huge and covered in flowers.

Runner beans in flower

One of my courgettes has practically become a marrow.

Courgette plant growing a courgette almost the size of a marrow

And my cucumber plants have flowered and started producing little cucumbers. 

Cucumber plant in flower

First mangetout and pea harvest of the season

Yum.

Mystery seeds revealed

A couple of months back I found a foil wrapper of seeds with nothing written on it, or at least nothing that would tell me what was inside. It took a good couple of weeks before curiosity got the better of me. I wrote "MYSTERY" on the wrapper,  wrote the same thing on a stick and planted a pot of them hoping to work out what they were when they grew.

It turns out it's rocket (probably). My husband thinks it looks like it, I (braver) think it tastes like it. If this is true it's highly fortuitous. My other rocket, the variety that looks like the rocket you get in the shops, has almost entirely failed to grow or died when still a seedling and I've now used the last of my seeds having made four attempts to grow it. I've planted some of the mystery seedlings where my other row of rocket was supposed to be. This means I do have some rocket, but I'm also a bit dissatisfied with both varieties. The one that looks like shop-bought rocket has largely failed to grow or died (I do have a couple of seedlings that I think may be this rocket that are still alive), the mystery one is coarser than shop-type rocket and most of it bolted pretty fast last year. I hope I find another variety next year, as we eat a fair amount of rocket,  so it's a handy crop.

Our first pea pod

We have our first ever pea pod. Now all I have to do is remember not to deadhead it. Seeing it brought out all my deadheading instincts. Clearly I haven't fully made the transition from flower gardener to vegetable gardener yet.

Seedling timelapse

I missed the impressive few hours when it burst through the soil and grew to that height, but here it is turning towards the sun then growing a tiny bit.