Kitchen Garden Forum

Today I don't have a question, just something to share with you. It's time to pause a minute and smell the flowers.

I have let all my andive crops flower on purpose, mainly to gain seeds if this happens at all. It didn't happen last year because I was too impatient and had to put the next crops in this container. For now the balcony is already filled to a maximum so I don't need to plant the next crops already.

I am so fascinated by andives' beautiful flowers:

Who'd have thought! They are so pretty & a great pic as well!

Yes Elmigo. They are very pretty. Like you, I rarely get to see the flowers because planting space is short for me so I'm using busy pulling up crops when they go to seed to make room for the next crop but the flowers are pretty and the crinkly foliage attractive too.

I'm having problems with pigeons eating many of my green crops this year though and have just lost most of my latest batch of lettuces. . Partly my own fault as several years we adopted an injured wood pigeon with a badly damaged leg who limps very badly. (We call her Limpy) She comes to our patio door several times a day to be fed, along with her mate who comes along for a free meal too (We call him Pimpy for obvious reasons! ) They're very protective of this feeding ground and fight all the other wood pigeons off, but invariarbly some creep in and graze further away from the house in my vegetable growing area. The only vegetables they don't seem to wreck are leeks, parsnips and courgettes.

How cheeky, and sweet names you gave them It reminds me of a couple of days ago, when I woke up at 6 AM to the constant sound of a magpie bird. The sound woke me up and kept me awake. After about 15 minutes I got out of bed to finally take a look. The magpie was gone, but so were about all my gooseberries!