2019 Summary

A quick month-by-month summary of 2019….

January

  • planted more garlic, possibly a bit late as quite a lot didn’t split into cloves, although I notice also quite a lot I failed to dig up and so it’s growing strong now (if in the wrong place!)
  • mulched loads of beds with free manure, it wasn’t fully rotted and contained quite a bit of wood chip which was annoying throughout the year

February

  • it was windy…
  • I mulched gooseberries, including a layer of cardboard which helped through the year keeping weeds off

March

  • started recording harvests each week, just out of interest
  • sowed seeds undercover: chilies, lettuce, turnip (always get bed harvest of spring sown turnips, so won’t do that again)

April

  • planted out broad beans, radish, lettuce under fleece
  • storm Hannah, no damage
  • pulled the last lot of leeks from the previous year

May

  • a mix of sun and hailstones
  • netted fruit for the first time, I won the battle against the birds
  • harvesting beans, radish, rhubarb
  • planted out parsnips, my first attempt at growing, having started them undercover
  • first time of the year I needed to water
  • first lot of strawberries which just kept on coming all through the summer

June

  • so many strawberries!
  • planting out most of seedlings that had been sown and growing undercover at home
  • nearly lost carrots and parsnips due to what might have been flea beetle. Sprayed everything and covered with netting, thought that would be the end of carrots and parsnips. A sad day.
  • lots of rain
  • harvested garlic, a number of bulbs had not split, possibly due to mild weather. Decided to plant early next time.
  • a lot of soft fruit picking, the first time from the plot, netting had made this possible

July

  • pea harvest, need to plant a lot more next time
  • really good potato harvest
  • onion harvest
  • super hot, temperature not falling below 20c even at night
  • harvest of beetroot, beans etc..

August

  • wind and rain, runner beans blown over
  • created new woodchip entrance to plot
  • finally some tomatoes, first time growing on the plot, they ended up doing better than the ones at home
  • cucumbers, soon there would be cucumbers everywhere
  • swede and turnips planted, expecting better harvest than the spring planted ones

September

  • constant harvest of everything until later in the month when temperature fell and everything slowed down
  • free soil off of freecycle, used to fill a new bed created where there was once a fence
  • happy that cucumbers had finally stopped

October

  • first lot of mulching with mushroom compost
  • planted onion sets for over wintering, first time
  • planted garlic, a lot earlier than last time
  • planted out over winter broad beans
  • very cold

November

  • broad beans showing
  • cabbages
  • fresh manure, piled and covered, to be stored for a year
  • harvest sprouts

December

  • moved some of the paths along the side, moved chairs nearer to the apple tree
  • first lot of parsnips pulled, thankful after a shaky start
  • harvest leeks
  • chopping overhanging tree branches
  • planted some of last year’s garlic which had sprouted at home

post inspired by VegGrowerPodcast

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