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 :(

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!

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.

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 :)

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.


The back of my orchard, now clear of nettles and brambles



September

What a difference a year makes, I have just read what I wrote last year but none of it applies this year. Everyone has harvested everything much earlier.
We have just had 2 days of something called, I think, 'cyclonogenesis'. 2 days of heavy rain and winds, but now the weather is warming up again. I have no lettuces left this year, on the whole my lettuce have behaved very badly but I did have some, enough to provide salads through June and July.
The tomatoes have been great, nearly all have already ripened and I have managed to freeze plenty. I think I have probably just picked the last of the beans and I have plenty in the freezer. Both trees had apples, I have loads of pears and the raspberries are producing a few regularly.
This years courgette has been really good, it has produced consistently without absolutely overwhelming me, it is so hit and miss when buying a courgette plant. My veg are all looking healthy and I will probably be able to harvest tomatoes, peppers and courgettes for a few weeks more and my leeks are growing steadily, ready for the winter.

August

2nd August
Everything is early this year. The plums are already ripe, as are the blackberries. With a bit of luck I will manage to pick all my plums before my neighbour realises they are ripe!
I have had my first tomato though it is the only one to have turned red yet, and everything else is flourishing. My freezer is almost full. A good year :)
16th August
It feels like autumn! After months of very hot weather and no rain it rained all day on Thursday and remains cloudy. The pears seem to be ripening and are falling off the trees
I managed to eat all my plums, in any case the plum thief left last week, I still have neighbours but I don't dislike them so they are no bother.
I have picked nearly all my beans, the mange-tout have nearly finished, even the second sowing is not really producing. The tomatoes are now ripening well, the peppers are good this year. The leeks are growing but the cabbage don't seem to have taken. In general it has been, and still is, a good season.