Some things are not worth it

I've already had some thoughts about what I want to do away with next year.

This morning, I harvested my potatoes, because the birds have eaten a lot of the leaves. The yield was on average 2:1. From the 2 tubs, we've probably got enough for 3 meals. I don't think that's worth the space.

I suspect the beans and peas are now almost finished. We've taken about 3 or 4 harvests from each, and production has slowed right down. The beans are being ravaged by birds, and the peas are looking less healthy than they were.

Next year, I will at least double the amount of plants - 8 of each - which I'll stagger over the month.

Carrots and leeks are another thing I doubt I'll bother with next year. Very disappointing yields and a lot of pest damage.

More thoughts to follow!

2023 so far

So far, this season is going ok - of course, there are a few failures, but on the whole I'm pleased with how it's going.

I'm trying harder this year to plant successional crops, so that I can have a longer growing and harvesting season, and that's working, but I can already see where I can improve next year. I also have realised that I need to work harder to control pests, as there has been a lot of slug damage and I haven't got enough protection to deal with it.

The biggest successes are:

Dwarf French beans - I have 4 plants in a ceramic pot, and they are growing extremely well. There is a little bit of bird damage, but the plants are producing. And the beans that come off them are absolutely delicious - tender and flavourful - nothing like shop-bought.

Mangetout - Initially I planted 2 back in about March, and then I sowed 3 more in between once they were established, around end of April/start of May. These are producing lovely peas - and they are a huge hit with Emily, who is picking them and eating them like sweets when she's playing in the garden!

Strawberries - I have a whole row of pots with strawberries - 2 or 3 have produced large sweet fruits, and some of the others have only grown tiny little ones - I don't know the varieties. I think at the end of the season, I'll get rid of the little ones as they're not worth it, and keep any runners that the bigger ones produce in separate pots, so they don't get mixed up. I want fewer plants, that produce bigger fruit, ideally. I also plan on getting a tower-planter for the strawberries next year, to save space.

Some wait-and-see's...

Tomatoes - In pots, I have 3 cherry toms, and 3 plum toms. The cherries are beginning to produce a few fruit, but the plums are much smaller plants, and are only just beginning to flower. I'm not sure why they are behind - perhaps it's just the variety, or maybe they are not meant for outdoors. Time will tell.

Carrots - I sowed a rectangular planter with Paris Market carrots, which are a ball variety. Slugs have decimated more than half or them, and I've had to raise the tub onto the table to try and offer some protection. I don't know if they'll be worth the space, there are only less than 20 left. Might make a meal, if I'm lucky.

Potatoes - 2 large tubs of potatoes, with 4 tubers in each (Maris Piper variety). The birds have started to strip the leaves, and I have no way of protecting them. I don't know if it's the location - might put them somewhere more sheltered next year. They do still look good enough, though, I think we will get something from them.

The Paris Market carrots - eaten by slugs

Mangetout, looking lush

French beans - tender and delicious

Cherry tomatoes starting to fruit

A view of the planter, plus potatoes and beans in the background

What a season!

 Ok, ok...so I failed miserably with the updates. In my defence, the garden had a lot of fails this year. Things that did well were:

Potatoes - planted my usual square container plus 2 buckets. The yield wasn't amazing, but it did us for about 4 meals.

Lettuce - I think I planted about 3, and they did really well, but there was a lot of waste due to lack of planning.

Beetroot - they grew really well, but then they weren't used in enough time, and they were left to rot.

Tomatoes - Really good, and still going!

Strawberries - got a decent crop through the summer. Will be sorting out and re-potting some of the existing and newly grown plans, possibly into hanging baskets.

I have begun doing away with the raised beds, in favour of increasing the lawn space. So next season, everything I grow will be in pots and containers.

I have in the garden at the moment:

Leeks - these are ready, although very thin. I'll use them as and when, they're fine to stay in the ground.

Garlic - planted into a pot about 2 weeks ago, and growing well. Will transfer to a bigger container soon.

Fresh start for 2022

Reviving this neglected blog for the 2022 season. No pictures as yet, but 2 weeks ago I sowed a full tray of veg, and am inpatiently waiting for them to come through!

Will come back with progress report very soon!

Top of the Crops

Is it just me, or is this year a slow one for growing stuff? It's been pretty odd this year, with some very hot days, some very wet days, and it's meant that we've had a lot of humidity, with some wind and cold thrown in for good measure.

Despite it being July, my little garden seems to be a bit behind, with my beans and peas still no more than a couple of inches high, yet in the case of my peas, desperate to start producing pods! I'm not really holding out much hope for either.

This week, I've harvested ALL of my potatoes! Some of them had started to get blight, and they had all fallen and begun to wither. Very early - I'm just hoping they store ok. Have to say the yeilds were very poor compared to the last 2 years.

My strawberries are producing very little. From 6 plants, I probably get about 4-5 fruits per week. The hanging baskets are not very successful - I will be repotting those into plant pots at the end of the season.

What I do have in abundance is lettuce! It has been doing so well, and rather than waiting for the heads to mature, I have been harvesting constantly from the outer leaves.This has worked really well for us, as we waste much less - although there is more than enough, and I have given some away too! I will be replicating the same method next year.

I have harvested all of my garlic and onions, and they are in the shed drying out. Quite pleased with those - again will aim to store them until they are needed.

My beetroot have been plagued with leaf miner - I'm not sure whether I will bother growing them next year. They are not something we eat very often, and I'm still trying to find ways to use them up after I harverst them.

I'm very pleased so far with my succession carrots - I have 2 tubs which are close to harvest, and actullay have used a few already. The second succession is growing away nicely, and have just sowed a third. Hopefully, this will contribute to our carrot usage until the Autumn.

Here are some views of what's growing this week...

Tiny beans, and peas in the background.

Tomatoes only just starting to fruit.

Tomatoes in flower - not very many this year so far.

One tiny strawberry.

Sweet Peas beginning to flower.

Pretty Sweet Williams.

What's happening on my windowsill!

This week has been very, very wet!! So I'm not venturing out into the garden much - the veggies are loving it though!

Today, I wanted to record what is happening indoors, on my windowsill. There have been a few new sowings, which I'm hoping will ensure that I have food in the garden during the colder months of autumn and winter.

Although I have things planted in all of my beds now, I do feel like I under-sowed - I think a not for next year is to sow double what I think I will need, so that I have fewer gaps, and can plant in cases of failure/slug damage etc.

Anyway, here's what I have growing right now...

I have sowed a succession for my lettuce - the ones in the garden are growing really well now - I'm going to try harvesting the outer leaves as it begins to heart, as an attempt to prolong the harvest over a longer period. I may however leave some to mature as normal.

Also here are some more Raab 60 day - only one survived of the original sowing, and went to flower before I had anything viable to harvest. Giving it another chance, but if these fail, I won't be growing them next year.

Yellow beets seems to be very difficult to germinate, even though I sowed about 4 per module.

Kale, Calabrese, and Savoy, for late season veg. These will replace some of the crops I harvest over the summer.

Red beets seem to do much better - the ones in the garden are fattening up nicely.

I am trying to populate my front garden with flowers, and these are Foxgloves. Look how teeny Tiny they are!! I sowed quite a few, but will likely only plant 2 or 3, if they grow on well enough.

Also for the front garden, one of my Dahlias. Already put a few out, along woth some Calendula, which have proved very hard to germinate.

I have 2 spare cabbages, but I likely will only plant one out as am running short of space. The summer varieties will be replaced by the Savoy.

Again, these are a couple of spares - I might try and find room for them somewhere. Otherwise they might end up in a sandwich!

Not veg or flower! I rescued this from my mum just over a week ago - it was in a tiny pot, overcrowded with babies, and so I repotted it (the babies were not very healthy, so ended up being chucked away sadly). I wanted to put it on here to show you the flower!! Here's a close-up...

Lastly, I moved my indoor basil from the kitchen window, as it didn't look very healthy. I was going to throw it away, but it seems to have revived! I have some in the garden, which is slow growing, and seems to be providing lunch for some bugs or other. Notice my potatoes in the background - doing great!

That's about it - will do an outdoor tour soon!

May Update

Everything is now planted out, with the exception of a few spares. Here's what the garden looks like right now.

2 pots of carrots, Heritage and Nantes. About 15 in each, and have sown another pot of Nantes this week.

My Chocolate Cherry tomatoe - a new variety for me, bought as a plant from a garden centre.

Onions - some doing better than others, this one is by far the largest.

A small row of radishes - these failed last year, so hoping for better results this year.

Some spare leeks, I also have some in the ground. These always seem to do really well in the garden, so not worried about these.

One of the varieties of cabage - these do take up a lot of space, but despite that, I really wanted to grow them as I haven;t done well with them in the past, and am determined to prove myself wrong!

1 of my lettuce got eaten before I had chance to cover it properly. I currently have 3, and have some seedlings inside to fill gaps. I have seen images of other growers' who seem to be ahead of me with their lettuce, but I'm hoping these will catch up quickly.

Peas, starting to speed up in their growth now.

Potatoes, doing very well as usual.