Today I thought I would look at the pluses and minuses of our first gardening year in the north west.
This garden needed some work if we were to grow our own. We came in late autumn and with some expenditure of time, energy and finance my husband transformed what was formerly an old garage base cum border with miscellaneous shrubs into the raised bed area we have now. Verdict on the vegetables - Broad beans and French beans after a slow-ish start did well. They fix their own nitrogen and did not need a rich soil. Leeks were not too happy - we are putting this right for next year with lots of compost. Spinach was attacked by snails (easy to spot and sent flying into the park) and leaf-miners. However, the cold has now killed them off. Kale sown in the beds previously occupied by beans is doing reasonably well. It's netted against the pigeons but there is still some snail damage. Parsnips in the wrong area but we may get some for Christmas. Also we sourced and collected our own free compost instead of having it delivered to our allotment site.
Soft fruit. Mainly positioning problems. Some raspberries and blackcurrants in the wrong place. Now moved. One summer raspberry cane is even now under the impression that it is an autumn one and is still attempting to fruit.
Apples. Looked lovely, and did bear some fruit in their first year. Hope for good things once they are more established.
Containers - worked for winter squash at the front of the house and to a limited extent for salads which now have their own purpose made 'crib' next to the greenhouse.
New greenhouse - invaluable. No chance of our pelargoniums (geraniums) surviving the winter without it. Currently also sheltering a mixture of saved bedding plants, two fuchsias and our jasmine.
New shed. A necessary structure even though we possess a newly-painted and renovated garage. Our shed is the warmest spot in the garden and is 'carpeted' with an off-cut from our back bedroom. Currently used for drying lavender and over-wintering regal pelargoniums. Fragrant luxury. We replaced a shack with a shed and are very grateful.
Other miscellaneous and maintenance. Sorted out our compost bins at the rear and pruned privet. Husband drastically reduced eucalyptus and holly in front of shed. Purchased and planted rhubarb. Next door had his big Leyland cypress removed. Our very grateful thanks to S for this. Primed and whitewashed one wall. Painted fence. Husband created his own border project on the left hand side. Found the warmest spot to place herbs. Removed some sickly roses, transplanted two clematis. Finally placed our honeysuckle and michaelmas daisies from the allotment. Created a strawberry bed in the front with thanks to family.
Overall conclusions. It has been a year of transition and transition is always challenging. We've built on our experience of what worked before. Some plants will never thrive up here, some will produce with a little bit of extra attention and nurture and some (good old kale!) will grow regardless. I'm not planning anything before Christmas, that's far too early, but just occasionally I pop out to the front beds to see my iris reticulata gradually start to emerge.
