The hanging vegetable garden is growing apace. Regular picking of cos lettuce, rocket, origanum and soon spinach is taking place and we no longer have to rely on a pillow pack of well-handled limp lettuce from a retailer to provide us with a crisp and nutritious base for a meal. The containers require no maintenance and very little watering as they are under shade cloth, and I don't have to break my back bending or even worry with weeds as the compost is weed free. Butterflies can still cause havoc if they lay eggs, but I will keep a close watch for chomp marks. Snails definitely won't make the climb up the central pole, along the crossbar and down the strings - hopefully an observant bird would spot them on the journey - as it seems a bridge too far for a slow mover.
With only ten containers in operation and room for at least twenty-five more, the prospects of self-sufficiency in the greens department are looking good. That is, if the baboons don't make a reappearance after an absence of nearly three years. Then I can kiss a vegetable garden goodbye.
I planted two grenadillas and a fig tree (talk about encouraging the return of the baboons!) nearby, as this corner of the garden has never been used in thirty years and is sunny and sheltered - perfect for fruit and veg growing. If my attempts at market gardening are again thwarted by baboons, I will give up. I will scatter random seeds of meadow flowers and abandon that corner to its own devices!
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