March 22nd
We have had the coldest and wettest winter for years. The sun is shining today but it is going to rain again tomorrow, but I have taken advantage of today's sunshine to start clearing and digging. Now, as I sit here and look out I can see two Swallows, or are they House Martins, I never know, but I am sure they do not normally arrive so early. Maybe summer is on the way!!
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Friday, June 16, 2017
Summer 2017
This June has been and is the hottest in 36 years, we have had a few days of rain but really not very much. The vegetables are doing well.
The beans and mange-tout are flowering so I hope to start harvesting in a couple of weeks and the courgette is now thriving.
I have been eating lettuce and new potatoes since the beginning of the month and I have loads, so different to last year. I planted more potatoes this year and I hoped to have them all summer and maybe in to autumn but I've just discovered that something has attacked them and dug up the majority. It doesn't look like the work of a boar so I'm not sure what. I have been eating raspberries for a couple of weeks, there are just enough to get a helping every day but I doubt I will manage to freeze any this year as many of the flowers in the bottom plot got frosted, again a real change from last year! I have managed to have some cherries, it is strange that some trees have no fruit and some have done quite well so I have had some from neighbours.
The courgette is not doing very well, I didn't water it enough and it got unhappy but it looks better now so, hopefully, I will have some soon.
July 5th
Well I think it was a boar and it has been back a couple of times to make absolutely sure that all the potatoes are dug up!
I am just coming to the end of the raspberries, they have lasted all month and I have managed to freeze a bag full so it was better than I expected.
The hydrangea is doing better than I have ever seen before.
August 8th
Everything is producing really well and the tomatoes are turning red. Only the potatoes have been a disaster but this has worked in my favour, my neighbour thought that her potatoes were only fit to give to the pigs as they are mostly small this year, when I said that I like small potatoes with my salads she told me to take as many as I wanted as she would be throwing the rest away, no one has a pig!! So now I have plenty of salad potatoes.
29th August
A wonderful year for vegetables but incredibly dry, finally it has rained which is great as I am about to be away. Next year I must label the peppers and tomatoes as to variety as I have no idea what they aere this year.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Spring 2017
April
This Spring has been crazy, after a very cold but very dry winter it snowed for the last week, since then it has just got hotter and hotter. The fruit blossom was early and I was worried that it would get frosted or that there would not be enough insects around but it seems to have been OK. Won't know until summer and autumn but the amount of blossom is amazing and there have been no frosts and lot of insects.
The family with the plot next door to mine kindly ploughed half of my plot, he said he would harrow it later but he didn't come back for ages so I planted my onions and put sticks in for my tomatoes, then he came back and harrowed!! I had to dig to find my onions, under about 6 inches of soil! I found most and planted some new ones, at least the soil has been well broken up this year.
I've sown lettuce seed inside and out, the inside has germinated, it's too early for the outside yet, I also have tomatoes growing inside, the problem is that I will be away next week and I am having to water at the moment, hopefully it will rain!😊 It isn't often I say that!
16th May
The weather continues to be crazy, but we did have several days of heavy rain last week. When I first came I was told not to plant out tomatoes or peppers until after 15th May and last week I saw a gardening programme on TV that said not to plant out tender plants till the 3rd week of May! I confess I planted out on the 13th, not a good day for doing anything but the last few days have been fine but there are likely to be frosts at the end of the week!
There was a very bad frost a week or two ago and many fruit plants were badly affected, the cherries look pathetic and I don't think it will be a good year for walnuts.
At the moment my plot looks healthy.
The first lettuce are doing really well and today I am going to have my first helping of lettuce from the garden. The leeks germinated exactly a month after I sowed them, I was just giving up hope! Tomorrow I will cover and protect as much as I can I just hope the potatoes survive as I can't cover them.
30th May
Thursday will be the start of meteorological summer! The weather has become more normal, I don't think we had a frost last week. The temperatures are now reasonable for the time of year and it has rained plenty this last week. I don't think I have done anything different this year but everything is growing well, the beans and mange-tout have sprouted, I have loads of lettuce, everything looks healthy, except the cherries which are virtually non-existent, such a shame because the blossom was beautiful, the later flowering apples also look as if they are doing nothing. I am going to have to rethink my raspberries, I wanted to move them all up to the orchard but the deer have been having a feast, eating the tops of the majority of the canes, it doesn't look like it is a good idea, the gooseberries are doing nothing as well :(
This Spring has been crazy, after a very cold but very dry winter it snowed for the last week, since then it has just got hotter and hotter. The fruit blossom was early and I was worried that it would get frosted or that there would not be enough insects around but it seems to have been OK. Won't know until summer and autumn but the amount of blossom is amazing and there have been no frosts and lot of insects.
The family with the plot next door to mine kindly ploughed half of my plot, he said he would harrow it later but he didn't come back for ages so I planted my onions and put sticks in for my tomatoes, then he came back and harrowed!! I had to dig to find my onions, under about 6 inches of soil! I found most and planted some new ones, at least the soil has been well broken up this year.
16th May
The weather continues to be crazy, but we did have several days of heavy rain last week. When I first came I was told not to plant out tomatoes or peppers until after 15th May and last week I saw a gardening programme on TV that said not to plant out tender plants till the 3rd week of May! I confess I planted out on the 13th, not a good day for doing anything but the last few days have been fine but there are likely to be frosts at the end of the week!
There was a very bad frost a week or two ago and many fruit plants were badly affected, the cherries look pathetic and I don't think it will be a good year for walnuts.
At the moment my plot looks healthy.
30th May
Thursday will be the start of meteorological summer! The weather has become more normal, I don't think we had a frost last week. The temperatures are now reasonable for the time of year and it has rained plenty this last week. I don't think I have done anything different this year but everything is growing well, the beans and mange-tout have sprouted, I have loads of lettuce, everything looks healthy, except the cherries which are virtually non-existent, such a shame because the blossom was beautiful, the later flowering apples also look as if they are doing nothing. I am going to have to rethink my raspberries, I wanted to move them all up to the orchard but the deer have been having a feast, eating the tops of the majority of the canes, it doesn't look like it is a good idea, the gooseberries are doing nothing as well :(
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
August
Eventually everything is growing, the lettuce have been reluctant but I have sufficient. The tomatoes are now changing colour, I won't have to buy any more. The beans are still producing and I have frozen quite a few, the courgette is slow, which is probably a blessing :) I have sufficient and I have frozen some already. I have harvested the potatoes and some of the onions, next year I must only grow onions in the lower plot, keep the 'orchard' for fruit and potatoes.
The plum doesn't have much fruit and what it has seems to have been nobbled, I aim to pick them all tomorrow.
It has been a very hot dry summer, today is cloudy, for the first time in 2 months. I don't know whether it has been because of the unusually hot weather but the snakes have been much in evidence. One, very hot, afternoon there were 3 snakes swimming in the old wash place, I got a photo of one of them leaving!
Another day there was only one having a swim, he was more unlucky as the water level was reduced, I think he couldn't get out and the next day he was dead.
It gives pause for thought when walking around in long grass!
The plum doesn't have much fruit and what it has seems to have been nobbled, I aim to pick them all tomorrow.
It has been a very hot dry summer, today is cloudy, for the first time in 2 months. I don't know whether it has been because of the unusually hot weather but the snakes have been much in evidence. One, very hot, afternoon there were 3 snakes swimming in the old wash place, I got a photo of one of them leaving!
Sunday, June 26, 2016
summer
So now it is officially summer. Things are growing slowly, that is, everything except the weeds are growing slowly!! I have a flower on the 'mange-tout', the raspberries are just starting to ripen and I have had strawberries. The gooseberries are virtually non existent and I am still waiting for lettuce seeds to germinate!
I have one great achievement! I have picked my garlic and they are the best ever. Usually I am ashamed of the size, but this year they have really grown well.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
June
I wonder how many years of gardening it takes before you can really recognize when to sow and plant!! It doesn't help that the instructions on the back of the seed packets seem to be really wrong. Looking at last year I seem to be having the same problem with the lettuce that I have each year, I sow according to the instructions but they never germinate until the weather gets warm.
This year Spring has been particularly cold and wet and germination seems particularly slow, but maybe not. My leeks germinated well, the beans are just starting and I have 4 mange-tout. It is the lettuce that are being a pain, I have sown seeds 3 times, one packet promised me that I would have salad to eat in 26 days!! Not a thing, I have bought 12 lettuce plants at various times over the last few weeks and 9 have been eaten by something, as have 2 peppers and a courgette, I now have 3 lettuce and 2 courgettes sitting under plastic bottles, hopefully they will survive.
We have been lucky with the fruit this year, the trees all managed to blossom whilst we had a few days of good weather, the only fruit that is not performing well is my gooseberries, they seem to be on strike. The snow in winter broke some branches off my neighbours plum tree, these happened to be the branches that grew over my plot and they are really nice plums so I won't have any of those this year but mine seem to be doing well. Now I just have to be patient and maybe also sow some more lettuce :)
This year Spring has been particularly cold and wet and germination seems particularly slow, but maybe not. My leeks germinated well, the beans are just starting and I have 4 mange-tout. It is the lettuce that are being a pain, I have sown seeds 3 times, one packet promised me that I would have salad to eat in 26 days!! Not a thing, I have bought 12 lettuce plants at various times over the last few weeks and 9 have been eaten by something, as have 2 peppers and a courgette, I now have 3 lettuce and 2 courgettes sitting under plastic bottles, hopefully they will survive.
We have been lucky with the fruit this year, the trees all managed to blossom whilst we had a few days of good weather, the only fruit that is not performing well is my gooseberries, they seem to be on strike. The snow in winter broke some branches off my neighbours plum tree, these happened to be the branches that grew over my plot and they are really nice plums so I won't have any of those this year but mine seem to be doing well. Now I just have to be patient and maybe also sow some more lettuce :)
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
October
I wrote last month that the beans were nearly finished, that wasn't true, I continue to have beans, I have eaten some and managed to freeze another bag. My peppers continue to do well as do the tomatoes and courgettes.
I have picked quite a few parasol mushrooms, they grew without any rain, but it has rained for the last couple of days so I will start looking for field mushrooms. It has been a good season for almost everything, only the onions were a disappointment and I reckon that that was my fault, next year I will drench them regularly.
I am now clearing some of my top plot that I didn't clear properly originally, I cleared a bit and then hid it behind a 'plum' hedge, this time it will be done properly. I am also going to clear some of the surrounding area as I am fed up of being attacked by ferns and brambles from the surrounding plots.
My garden looks great, it has really flourished this year and looks very green and colourful.
I have picked quite a few parasol mushrooms, they grew without any rain, but it has rained for the last couple of days so I will start looking for field mushrooms. It has been a good season for almost everything, only the onions were a disappointment and I reckon that that was my fault, next year I will drench them regularly.
I am now clearing some of my top plot that I didn't clear properly originally, I cleared a bit and then hid it behind a 'plum' hedge, this time it will be done properly. I am also going to clear some of the surrounding area as I am fed up of being attacked by ferns and brambles from the surrounding plots.
My garden looks great, it has really flourished this year and looks very green and colourful.
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| The back of my orchard, now clear of nettles and brambles
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