Summary of our first year
The year started with rescuing the abandoned garden from the weeds – clearing
paths and beds in the veggie plot, digging out blackberry vines and cutting
back overgrown bushes and hedges. We
pruned the apple trees quite severely and trimmed the currant bushes back. In the spring we planted raspberry and
blueberry bushes and turned the earth for planting.
There was a late frost, which set everything back once things had
already started sprouting. The
hydrangeas suffered noticeably and never bloomed this year at all. Even the oak sapling in the front was burned
by the frost.
March started with the first daffodil
in the garden on the 3rd.
We pruned the apple trees, the hedge and the roses and had a bonfire to
get rid of trimmings. We planted
potatoes and saw the first chiffchaffs on the 28th. There were several frosts.
April had snow, frost and hail right up to the end of the month when
there was a hard frost on the 28th.
We planted sweet peas, nasturtiums, calendula and mustard as a cover
crop. The potatoes surfaced on the 23rd
and we planted beetroot and courgette seeds (under cover). April seemed a lot colder than usual for this
time of year.
May brought apple blossoms, though a deer ate the buds off the small
apple tree we had planted. It never
recovered for the rest of the year. The
grass was first cut on the 1st.
We planted seeds and set them in a cold frame in trays – peas,
mangetout, rocket, lettuces and beans.
There was a hot, dry spell at the end of May and I got badly sunburned
doing the strimming on the 26th.
The midges came out with a vengeance on the 29th when the
cloudy weather returned.
The dry spell continued into early June and we had to water all the
young seedlings by hand. Some things
like the sweet peas got too dry and died.
We planted out carrots, radishes, spring onions, rocket and
coriander. In June we harvested rocket, chard,
rhubarb and strawberries. We found our
resident toad living under a roof tile in the flower bed, where he/she stayed
for the whole summer. We had sparrows
and wasps nesting in the roof of the house.
In July we cut the grass and trimmed hedges and had a bonfire. Potato blight struck in mid-July and we began
harvesting then. We ate lots of chard,
peas, and mangetout and the rhubarb was still growing like crazy. The raspberries went mouldy around this time
but the bilberries in the forest were ripening in profusion. We ate our first courgette this month. The midges were still annoying, but not quite
as bad as before.
In August we planted perennials in the flower bed by the patio where
the toad was still living. We ate lots
of potatoes and courgettes and all the peas and mangetout we could want. Plus we started harvesting spinach beet,
beetroot, carrots, onions and beans this month.
The chard was still producing! The
midges were terrible again, so bad that we had to run outside with a tray to
quick grab some vegetables and run back in again. We also had our first blueberries which
needed netting to keep the birds off.
September was getting cooler and rainier. We brought in the last of the peas, all the
onions and the remaining potatoes. We
had a handful of beans and a few more courgettes. The spinach beets were suffering from slug
attack. Carrots and beetroots still seem
to be growing and are lovely.
Successes
Rhubarb was a runaway success and took over most of its bed. We harvested enough for at least 5 rhubarb
crumbles and also gave some away to Sylvia and John. The more we picked it, the more it grew back.
The chard went in as nursery starts, not sure when, but it produced
consistently all summer and just kept coming back after we picked it. It didn’t seem to be eaten by any pests. I would definitely plant the chard again and
give it a bit more space, in a place where it’s easy to reach.
Nasturtiums grew all over everything and kept the weeds down and made
the garden more colourful.
Blueberries were super amazing.
We should plant some more!
Learning experiences
Courgettes could do better with more protection from wind and
snails. We had good success with them,
and harvested at least 20 courgettes over 5 plants, but mostly from one plant. We could use a few more plants next
time. Some of the plants were shaded by
the buddleia and needed more sun.
Potatoes were a success except for the blight. This variety was excellent in soup but not so
good steamed – great flavour but slightly strange texture. Next time we should plant more different
varieties. The potatoes planted later
did better than the earlier ones, possibly due to the late frost. Also the plants nearest the hedge didn’t
grow, perhaps from lack of light.
The peas and mangetout did really well in the end, though they had a
slow start. Once they got going, later
in June, they started to take off. They
were mostly planted in early May in the cold frame and then planted out in late
May. We ate the first peas in mid-July,
about 75 days from planting. Were they
planted too early? Once they got going,
they were very happy and produced in abundance.
Next year I would plant more peas and give them more room and more
support. In the end they all grew
together into one huge clump, and didn’t really have much support to grow
upwards.
Beets never got very big but were tasty. The spinach beets were a great source of
greens. We could plant more of those
next year, and plant beets in a better spot.
Strawberries were occasionally amazing but mostly eaten by slugs. They flowered late but didn’t have a chance
to ripen.
First crop of rocket was a great success and really delicious. The second crop never grew any leaves and
bolted almost immediately. The first
crop were planted in the cold frame trays in early May and were harvested after
40-50 days. The second crop were planted
in planter tubs in late June and never grew.
More was planted in the ground and this didn’t thrive at all.
The apple trees bloomed in May and we thought things looked very
promising. Not as many of the blossoms
set as we expected, and then a lot of the small apples dropped off early in the
summer. The apple trees in the back also
had their leaves turn brown and curl at the edges. We think it was the 2-3 weeks of drought in
late May and early June. The apples that
remained were small and scabby. Overall
the apples were a bit disappointing.
They might need watering if there is a long dry spell in spring.
The carrots were all right but didn’t seem to have a lot of
flavour. These also seemed really slow
to grow and only in September did they get to an appreciable size. They were planted on 11 May and more on 5
June and the first carrot was harvested on 8 August after 89 days.
The dwarf bush beans grew OK but very slowly and only had a few beans
on them. They were very tasty but I’m
not sure they were worth the trouble or the space they took up. Could they be planted closer together to keep
the weeds down?
Dismal failures
Butternut squashes were yellow, stunted and miserable.
Onions didn’t get very big.
Lettuces didn’t grow very big and were eaten by snails and aphids.
Cilantro grew tall and spindly without hardly any leaves, and bolted.
Radishes were vile.
Crops by type
Rhubarb
Harvested 23 June and onwards
Potatoes
International Kidney First Early
2 1/3 kilograms
Chetting started 4 February
Planted 22 March and after for several weeks
First surfaced 23 April
Hard frost 28 April, -3 degrees
Possible potato blight 17 July – burnt greens
Harvested first potatoes 17 July
Final harvest 8 September
Total harvest 9354 grams (included some red potatoes)
Courgette
Planted seeds 25 April ‘Green bush’
Ate first courgette 23 July
Last harvested --
Peas / mangetout
Planted 3 May
More peas planted 11 May
First harvested 16 July
Last harvested 3 September
Beans
Planted 3 May
Blooming 26 July
First harvested 29 August
Rocket
Planted 3 May
More planted 6 June
Harvested 13 June
Last harvested 25 June
Beetroot
Seeds ‘Detroit’
Planted 25 April
First harvested 29 August
Carrots
Planted 11 May
First harvested 8 August
Spring onions
Planted 6 June
Lettuces
Planted 6 June
Not very good
Onions
Onion sets planted 25 April
Last harvested 8 September
Chard
Planting date unknown (from starts)
Harvested from 18 June to mid September
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