Hi Bambi.... thanks ..Glad you're enjoying your garden. ... I always think that the first year in any garden ( and I've had a few.. ) is the hardest.....finding out what will and won't do well can be sole destroying..but necessary if you want to get the best results in the future.....So I am pleased with this year..this is my forever house and garden, so it's important to me that the garden does well ..I have planted most things that I like to eat but not everything has been a success....I have also tried to grow things in a few areas to see which is best...like the runner beans I planted in 3 places..2 have done well, the other area not so well....But that is half the joy of gardening...planting the seeds and watching their progress....good or bad..
One of my favourite crops this year has been the 100's and 1000's tomatoes.... I've picked a dishfull every day, they just seem to grow and grow..and lovely for the grandkids to pick...
this is yesterdays harvest..
and the crop I'm most looking forward to are the victoria plums...I planted the tree 3 years ago..last year I had a couple of small fruits..but then I had to prune it hard last autumn as we had to do some building work and the plum tree was in the way...I didn't think there would be any fruit this year but it's proved me wrong...they are just starting to ripen...
It's been a dreadful week weather wise, but I have managed to get my Christmas potatoes in and also sewn some spring cabbage, chinese cabbage leaves, spring onions, spinach and turnips....I am following John Harrison's advice in his book 'Vegetable growing month by month' so hoping for success.. but just in case.. I have managed to win a mini polytunnel on eb@y for only £7.79...it's 3.5 mtre X 1 mtre so should fit my raised bed perfectly...
Christmas dinner has been in my thoughts this week..I have pulled the parsnips...they wouldn't win any prizes for their shapes but more than enough for xmas dinner so they are in the freezer along with runner beans, broad beans, carrots, cabbage and herbs for the stuffing..so well pleased..
Runner beans are still supplying the family and... The greenhouse is still producing a really good crop of tomatoes and cucumbers
The onions have been flattened by the heavy rain so will be lifting them this week.. and the lettuce is still producing well... and hopefully if the weathermen are right the chillies will start ripening soon.
They say be careful what you wish for.. well a while ago I wished the tomatoes in the greenhouse would start ripening...now I don't think I'm going to have enough green ones for my chutney... This is the last picture of the greenhouse crop this year as I am going to pick the lot tomorrow...
Still got quite a few cabbages ready to pull and the onions for storing are hanging under the veranda and I managed to get 2 large jars of pickled onions which I grew from seed so really pleased.. I bought one of those apple picking gadgets from amazon £6.99..so going to get the apples in this weekend....borrowed one last year but everyone wants to borrow it this year so I can't wait till it's free..besides which I've found a tree up the lane that is also laden so going scrumping.. The pototoes I planted for Christmas are coming on great ..put the second lot of compost in the bags today as the shoots were up 8 inches.....Also planted 50 white and 50 red onions sets ....I've had the polytunnel I won on eb@y the frame was good, but the cover was torn.. so waiting for a dry spell to repair it, but it should do the job ok.... Still picking runner beans..they seem to have sprouted again the last week and produced another mass of flowers..I'm thinking if I get the tomatoes out of the greenhouse I could get hubbies help and get one of the pots into the greenhouse to lengthen the season..
Well !! harvested all the tomatoes this week and moved the pepper and chilli plants into the greenhouse as they are a bit behind.......these are the last of them ready to make chutney ...
Also picked all the apples ...these are from the tree in the front garen which I planted last autumn...really pleased as I wasn't expecting any..
and these are from the tree in the back garden which, when I cleared the garden I found as a 5'twig growing under a conifer tree.....
It's all a bit sad this time of the year when the garden is winding down for the winter..but it seems more so this year as the garden has kept us so well supplied with fruit and veg.....and you just know that the smell of chutney means winter will soon be here.....still at least I know that my freezer is well stocked and I can still eat home grown produce when I want...
End of September and I'm still harvesting veg from the garden. ....the runner beans are still doing well so I'm covering with fleece on cold nights to try and protect the new crop of flowers...also got cos lettuce growing well...I've been cutting the lettuce off and leaving the roots and a bit of the stalk and they've been sprouting 2-3 baby lettuce...the cabbages are still giving us a good supply of greens as one cabbage is enough for hubs and me to get e few meals out of..also still picking cucumbers, they have stopped producing flowers now so have 4 more to pick..that makes a total of 32 cucumbers off 2 plants which I think is brill...will def grow same variety next year.. I am trying to extend the growing season with a make shift polytunnel over the raised bed...I have got the cos lettuce in there along with the onions and a couple of varieties of winter lettuce and some beetroot..
The 'Christmas' potatoes are growing really fast..I hope I've got the timing right..looking at the growth I think they are going to be early
but I don't want to move them out of the greenhouse as we've had a few frosts..
Not done so well this year then Jannie, will send you my tips on how to keep things going and making the most of space and timing of growing things etc, don't worry it will be good next year, why such a small crop of cucumbers?
Hahaha.perchy ......Do you know... I had to go and buy tomatoes this morning.....I am such a failure... ..I am so annoyed 'cause I have all the other ingredients to make a salad. ..So next year I am going to sow some tomato seeds much later than the maincrop.... so next September I will have a couple of plants that are full of green tomatoes to slowly ripen through October....any tips to get more cucumbers of 2 plants gratefully received..
Oh jannie, I hope I havn't embarassed you trying to give you gardening tips Fancy having to buy tomatoes, you must remember next year to plan it better, and I will PM you the cucumber tips, I don't really want everybody knowing my secrets 30 + cucumbers off a couple of plants, what a shame
I've spent a couple of hours in the garden this morning...first time for a few weeks ..what with weather , holiday, grandkids birthdays I haven't had the time or inclination...It's looking sad in places but thats mostly the front cottage garden...The fruit trees have dropped their leaves and the perennials are dying back..I don't want to tidy them yet as they are all young plants I've grown from seed and they need the goodness to go back into the ground for next year.. The veg plots are still producing...still got cabbages, kale, leeks and plenty of cos lettuce in the polytunnel and the winter lettuce have germinated well...
..Only one courgette plant left so I've moved it into the greenhouse as it's got 3 courgettes on it that might grow a bit more...
When I went on holidays I had 7 lovely yellow chillies in the greenhouse..when I came home I have one left...my son ate them whilst waiting for the chooks to go to bed..
Also taken the runner bean plants down...found enough beans for dinner tonight.....going to stay indoors for the rest of the day to warm up...got the post holiday chills..
Your garden has been beautiful this year and so much fruit and veg and salad, am so glad you have been taking my advice, well done Jannie some people would think I was interfering
...
) is the hardest.....finding out what will and won't do well can be sole destroying..but necessary if you want to get the best results in the future.....So I am pleased with this year..this is my forever house and garden, so it's important to me that the garden does well ..I have planted most things that I like to eat but not everything has been a success....I have also tried to grow things in a few areas to see which is best...like the runner beans I planted in 3 places..2 have done well, the other area not so well....But that is half the joy of gardening...planting the seeds and watching their progress....good or bad.. 
but just in case.. I have managed to win a mini polytunnel on eb@y for only £7.79...it's 3.5 mtre X 1 mtre so should fit my raised bed perfectly... 
so waiting for a dry spell to repair it, but it should do the job ok....
Fancy having to buy tomatoes, you must remember next year to plan it better, and I will PM you the cucumber tips, I don't really want everybody knowing my secrets 
30 + cucumbers off a couple of plants, what a shame 
some people would think I was interfering 
