Athyrium filix-femina (The Lady Fern): Garden report for 2013

Month by month

September - October 2012

Our gardening year started with the first frost on 21 September last year. This was one day after we ate the last of our potatoes on 20 September. We cut the grass for the last time on 24 September, ate our first apple on the 25th and harvested the last of the carrots. The last courgette was picked on 30 September. Into October, we harvested apples, rhubarb, blackberries, and tomatoes (granted, those had been indoors most of the time). There were more frosts, and at the end of the month temperatures got down to -6 degrees C.

November - December

The first big snowfall on the hills came on 1 November. Waxwings appeared in our neighbourhood on the 8th of November and later in the month we saw field fares, redwings and jays and a red squirrel. We had an oil leak from our boiler, and we went into a deep freeze that lasted several weeks. More waxwings were seen at the beginning of December.

January - February

January was cold and snowy. Andy chopped down one of the upper apple trees that was very diseased, hoping to bring more air to the other two. The snowdrops appeared on the 26th of January. There was more snow in February. On the 16th I replanted the camellia in the front of the house.

March mayhem

On the 2nd of March we were amazed to harvest carrots left over from last year! We had our first daffodil on 8 March and on the 11th we recorded -8 degrees C. On the 16th we trimmed the hedges and on the 18th the first lamb appeared in Benderloch. There was a huge windstorm on 22nd March and trees came down and took the power out with it. We lost huge sections of forest around our neighbourhood. Then we had a long, cold dry spell, which ran into April, with temperatures below average.

April drought

On 10 April I recorded “Drought last 2 months” and had a bonfire. On the 11th it finally rained, but not much at all. The daffodils bloomed only sporadically and some of them never bloomed at all. The camellia bloomed on the 16th and the primroses around the same time. Swallows were seen at Dunstaffnage on the 19th of April. A sea eagle flew over our house on the 21st. On the 23rd we replanted the Red Falstaff apple tree in the allotment garden (still in recovery from being chewed on by a deer last year) and planted the early potatoes out on the 24th. At the end of the month, the apple trees were just leafing out and more daffodils were opening. It was a very late spring. The last frost I recorded was on 30 April.

May showers

The first midge bit us on the 1st of May. Thereafter it was very wet for a few weeks. Carrots, peas, and rocket were planted outside on the 5th of May when the first chiffchaff was heard. We planted courgette, chard and butternut squash seeds indoors, and planted the remaining early potatoes and the maincrop potatoes on the 8th of May. The blackcurrants bloomed on 6 May and the bluebells and rhododendron were blooming on 9 May. The first early potatoes surfaced on 14 May after two weeks of wet weather. The rocket sprouted on the 17th, our first sunny warm day of the year. On the 18th, we planted mangetout, beetroot, mustard greens, spring onions and beans (the last indoors). Strawberries bloomed on the 20th and the apple trees in front were blooming on the 23rd. The blueberries bloomed also on the 24th. By the end of May the bluebells were just coming out everywhere (late by a month).

June catch-up

June had some catching up to do. We planted more carrots, peas and beans on the 1st. A spotted flycatcher was seen on the 2nd of June. We planted a yellow azalea from Morvern on the 3rd. Lupine and allium were blooming by the 6th. There were three days of really hot weather and the apples and blueberries set fruit. The midges were terrible by the 11th. The rugosa rose bloomed on the 13th. On the 16th I planted more beans, kale, and celeriac starts from Mull. We planted three tomato starts on the 19th. By the solstice, the first early potatoes were blooming, and the raspberries had set. Foxgloves were blooming. We planted broccoli starts on the 24th. The peas were blooming on the 26th and the first strawberries ripened and we ate the first one on 28 June.

July: all guns firing

July was busy. I harvested strawberries daily for a few weeks in early July. It was hot most of the month and I had to water the garden. Everything bloomed – roses, brodea, orchids in the verge. Peas set by 9 July. Currants started to ripen, and were eaten by blackbirds on 15 July. Lots of strawberries were amazing for the first half of the month. I made elderflower lemonade twice with flowers picked on the 12th and 16th (rather late for elderflowers). Ate the first chard on 17 July. Noted that cleggs were really terrible on the 18th and I had already sustained many bites. Picked the first peas on the 21st and raspberries on the 22nd. Kale and chard and mangetout were ready on the 25th. Blueberries arrived on the 26th and the raspberries were coming thick and fast at the end of July.

August harvest

Blueberries came along slowly in August. First the Patriots were ripe, slowly from 3 August to 17 August. The Spartans were ripe around the 20th. I harvested currants – 1 kg from just one bush! – and the first courgette on 4 August and also some red potatoes. There was plenty of kale, chard, peas and mangetout to eat until we got tired of them. I picked more currants on the 15th and the final harvest of currants on the 18th which went into the freezer. We had our second and third courgette by the 14th of August and by the end of the month the count was up to 11. The green beans came along (only 3 plants survived) with a crop on the 18th of August. I would have liked more of these.

Caterpillars started being noticeable around the end of this month. The midges got bad again at the end of August, after July had been OK for midges. At the end of the month, a snapdragon started blooming which had carried over from last year -- one of the bedding annuals that got left behind! What a trooper. I harvested small carrots and two beetroots on the 27th but they were very small yet. However, we had more mangetout than we could eat.

September infestations

September came and still the Earliblue blueberries weren’t ripe. We had our first apple from the lower trees on the 1st – it was good. The midges were “horrendous” on the 5th. More peas were coming on, from the same plants (they just keep going!) on 13 September. On the 16th we harvested the last of the green beans. I divided the hosta and potted up strawberry runners mid-month. The windfalls from the lower apple tree (James Grieve) were tasty. Caterpillars, snails and slugs ate nearly all the broccoli by the end of the month. We cut several “giant” courgettes this month.

October remainders

Marrows appeared in October, not really on purpose, but just from leaving them too long. The first frost was on 10th October and we dug the last of our potatoes on the 12th – enough to last us several more months.

We had the last courgettes on the 13th. I picked the last of the peas (a good number) on the 15th and mowed the lawn for the last time on the 16th. We took our apples to Argyll Apple Day on 17 October to get identifications for them.

In early November, we picked the last of the Bramley apples from the tree. Then snow and ice kicked in then for a few weeks. However, December was a lot milder and wetter. We ate the last of our stash of potatoes on 23 December.

That was a great gardening year!

Successes

Strawberries

Chard

Kale

Green beans

Courgettes

Currants

Apples

Peas

Parsley

Chives

Rhubarb

Could have been better

Carrots

Beetroot

Potatoes

Blueberries

Raspberries

Dismal failures

Loganberry – fruit went moldy and didn’t ripen

Mustard greens – never grew, maybe a bad location

Pak choi – never grew at all

Spring onions – never grew more than 3 inches

Broccoli – infested by slugs, snails and caterpillars. Horrible.

Garden layout

Crops by type (including dates)

Apples
26 April leafing out
23 May front trees blooming
9 June have set fruit
1 September ate first apple (lower tree: #3)
7 September juiced windfalls (still tart)
18 September ate windfalls from lower tree (#3) – good
17 October Argyll Apple Day – took to be identified

Beans (dwarf bush)
18 May planted indoors
1 June planted more outdoors
16 June planted more outdoors (not many sprouted)
18 August harvested beans
27 August more beans
16 September harvested last of beans

Beetroot
18 May planted outside
27 August picked small beets
15 October picked small beets

Blueberries
24 May blooming
9 June have set fruit
26 July ate first blueberries (Bluecrop I think)
3 August some Patriots ripening
17 August Patriots ripe
20 August Spartans ripe
4 September Earliblues still ripening slowly
15 September Earliblues still mostly sour, left for birds

Broccoli
24 June planted starts
26 September full of slugs and caterpillars, hardly any broccoli left
12 October starting to resprout new heads after frost

Butternut squash
4 May planted indoors
Planted with courgettes but never thrived

Carrots
5 May planted outside
1 June planted more outside
27 August harvested small carrots
15 October picked some good size carrots

Celeriac
16 June planted starts
16 October still looks OK but not very big

24 December seems to be getting a bigger root and healthier leaves

Chard
4 May planted indoors
17 July harvested first leaves
25 July harvested lots
19 August still harvesting lots

24 December some plants still alive and thriving

Courgette
4 May planted indoors
4 August harvested first courgette
11 August ate 2^nd courgette
14 August ate 3^rd courgette
22 August 3 more courgettes
26 August 3 big courgettes
31 August at least 12 this month altogether
9 September giant courgette
27 September giant courgette
2 October giant marrow and large courgette
13 October giant marrow and last 3 courgettes

Currants
6 May blooming
8 July covered against birds (not well enough)
13 July starting to ripen
15 July blackbird ate all currants off one bush
4 August harvested currants (1 kg from one bush)
15 August picked another 700g currants
18 August picked last currants (froze)

Kale
16 June planted start
25 July harvested lots
19 August still harvesting lots
16 October still harvesting kale

Mustard
18 May planted outside
Never grew

Pak choi
18 May planted with mustard
Never grew

Peas & mangetout
5 May planted peas outside
18 May planted mangetout outside
1 June planted more outside
26 June peas blooming
9 July peas set
21 July harvested first peas
24 July lots of peas
25 July lots of mangetout
16 August lots of peas and mangetout
13 September more peas coming on (same plants)
15 October picked last peas (a good number)

Potatoes
24 April planted earlies (Red Duke of York, 2 kg)
8 May planted main crop (Pentland Crown – white, 2 kg)
14 May earlies surfaced
21 June earlies blooming
4 August harvested first red potatoes - some with fungal blight (?)
12 October dug all the rest of the white maincrop potatoes, all remaining reds - a lot of them had cracks and caverns in the middle because of the drought in the spring, many of them rotted

23 December ate last of potatoes from garden

Raspberries
21 June set fruit
22 July harvested first handful
24 July lots of raspberries
27 July coming thick and fast

Rhubarb
harvested throughout the summer
12 October dying back after frosts

Rocket
5 May planted outside
17 May sprouted (12 days)
Never grew much at all

Spring onions
18 May planted outside
16 October weeded around onions – still very small

24 December still growing but very small

Strawberries
20 May blooming
28 June ate first berry
6 July harvesting lots of berries all week
13 July still harvesting lots all week
14 September potted up runners

Tomatoes
19 June planted starts

Never did very well and then got aphids