It seems only yesterday I was planting up seeds in anticipation for the summer ahead and this week all I have been doing is removing old plants and tidying the vegetable patch – not very photo-friendly if I am honest. I figured the best thing to do was to re-cap 2014 and look forward to a new season.
It all started back in March, which is actually when I got back into blogging again and as it is with all plants it started with the seeds. Here is the link to my first gardening post so full of optimism and plans. Gardening One seed at a time .
My plot might be little but it is amazing what you can produce in a small space and with basic tools.
MARCH – IN THE GARDEN
Hard to believe that these little plants would grow into 5ft monster tomato plants in a few months. I set out with my shovel, a few seeds and a plan.
The plan changed a few times, I can tell you this was the first draft.
Then I made up some seed tape some worked well and some did not, the scallion seeds seem to do better than the carrots. You can make up your own seed tapes for Christmas gifts of your gardening friends and relations, the instructions are here.
And we made seed pot up for the seedlings to get bigger in, all while the weather was a bit too cold to be outside. My kitchen windowsill was turning into a seedling nursery, luckily it is a big window.
APRIL
I grew new plants from scraps with varying degrees of success – scallions again were the champions and I highly recommend re-growing them, it worked every time I haven’t brought scallions in a long time ! Also the pineapple I planted has new growth and I am very surprised and happy about that.
For Earth Day I shared how to give your tomatoes a great start with organic and recycling methods and it must of worked because we had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year , I still have some in the fridge as I type.
MAY
May was the start of SLUG WARS , which thanks to the mild weather was a long battle. Some methods worked better than others, the slugs in my garden seem to mock my attempts especially the egg shells, they glided over them like they didn’t exist.
I had super slugs it seemed, in the end the best method was nightly trips out with my torch and the distraction technique where I would put out piles off garden waste and they would gather round them like people at a free buffet table.
I also shared my Frugal Gardening Tips I am always on he hunt for the cheaper way to do things and managed this year to grow a lot for not a lot of investment other than hard work and time and a bit of creative thinking. And it seems that there are others like me this is one of my most popular posts.
Then of course came my favourite thing to grow – Strawberries. I love them and once you know what to do they are not that difficult to grow. Follow my Ten tips to Grow Strawberries next year and you too could be feasting on your own crop of strawberries.
By the end of May the vegetable garden was beginning to take shape and things were beginning to be ready I even managed to save a lettuce or two from the evil slugs.
And I was in the process of my GREAT CARROT EXPERIMENT which I am thrilled to say was a success as these tiny seedling turned into lovely carrots. I hope after everything we learnt this year that next years crop will be even better.
JUNE
With the season in full swing, I needed some food for my hungry plants and what better way to feed them than with your own home-grown compost.
It is amazing the things that you can throw in there – my favourite was lint, I really had no idea you could do that and my dryer has been lint free ever since.
I also never knew there were so many Garden Suspicions either but I love learning about old wives tales and folklore.
I even made my own bunting in June to brighten up my raised -beds, it is tucked away safely inside until next year after one of the storms we had recently nearly took it away.
We even learnt in June that bunnies can be good for your garden and Bees need a hand occasionally especially as their numbers seem to be declining something we should all be worried about.
And my favourite bit about June was finally crops could start to be picked there is nothing nicer than making up a plate of food that you grew yourself, the strawberries were nearly ready, Garlic scapes make great garlic butter and courgette flowers were gorgeous in tempura batter. RECIPE HERE.
JULY
We had a proper Summer in Ireland, it is such a rarity that the weather is consistently good over here and it was beautiful. Best of all the veggies loved it and we had bumper crops this year.
The first crop was the strawberries and they didn’t let us down, those gorgeous red berries just kept on coming and what else to make on a warm summer’s day than Strawberry Ice-cream and we also made Healthy Breakfast Smoothies with strawberries and baby leaf spinach from the garden.
The courgettes were starting to get there amazing golden fruits – I had grown a variety called Golden Delight and they were a lovely bright addition to the garden with the added bonus they tasted great and this is coming from a person that never really liked courgettes that much. These have been in everything from muffins to omelettes to pickles this year.
Who knew they could be so versatile – not me before this summer 🙂
Also in July my garden became a great source of comfort as our world fell apart a little and my husband and I separated leaving me and the girls in an emotional and financial pickle, I honestly think gardening is one of the best healers for the soul around and I loved my garden even more for that.
We started the winter seedlings off in July as a gardener always has to plot ahead, they are all ready to go into the ground now – I am just not keen on getting soaked, so am waiting for a drier spell to get them in the ground hopefully before the first frosts come.
I even got the power tools out and made a bench so we could relax in the garden too, not that there is much rest mid-season with weeds to be pulled, plants to be fed and waters, pest to be kept under control and veggies to be harvested, but I was so proud to finish off that bench it was my first major DIY project.
AUGUST
Finally in August my garlic was ready to pull and by that time I had found out the best time to plant garlic is well now – in fact I planted some the other day between rain showers. Luckily a garden can learn from their mistakes and that is what I did, so if you plan on growing your own garlic the post is here and you can plant them now for next year.
Another thing you can do this week is save you pumpkin seeds, back in August I was saving pepper and tomato seeds as they started to ripen. SAVING SEEDS have a printable seed packet to save your pumpkin seed in and give to friends.
The garden was in full production I was pick every day and it was great to be providing food for my girls especially when things were tight and I don’t live on a farm I live in a small semi-detached house in a country town. I can only imagine what could do with an acre of land or an allotment.
We had so many tomatoes that we could have fed a few families and did if you count the tomatoes I gave to my brothers.
I also found out that you could ripen tomatoes yourself, yes I know vine-ripened tomatoes sounds good and they are great but tomatoes have a lot of pests and they tasted equally good ripening in my fruit bowl. You will still find the odd one or two in there today…
SEPTEMBER
September started with storms and sun, it has been the oddest weather here. My poor garden took a bit of a battering but the weather was so mild that things were still producing long after I thought they would be finished.
Also the crab apple tree out the front was ready for picking – they look so tasty although they would give you a nasty stomach ache if you ate them raw, crab apple jelly is the only way to go.
September seems to be all about gathering and storing the harvest and and I was making jams and relishes
I am quite proud of my Tomato and Chilli Relish recipe it is so tasty and I have even given it as gifts.
We also had a new arrival in the form of a garden digging puppy – she is great if you require a large hole dug or if she could tell the difference between weeds and seedlings I could put her to use but instead we looked at ways of Puppy Proofing the Garden.
Don’t let that face fool you – she is pure evil in the garden !!
October
October was about cleaning out the old plants before disease kicked in and preparing the garden for winter.
We picked and stored the herbs which had grown so well considering Aldi was throwing them out when I rescued them. It is so great to pull out herbs that taste fresh from the freezer.
The summer season finally ended, we were definitely spoilt this year and it is still very mild for the first day of November – eek! I can’t believe it is November already soon Christmas will be here.
And of course last week I shared how to grow pumpkins for next year, which is where saving those pumpkin seeds comes in handy.
So we this summer grew three types of lettuce, two types of chard, harvested 22 courgette, two types of tomatoes, potatoes, scallions, chillies, sweet peppers, strawberries, garlic, cucumbers, carrots, spinach, leek and lots of herbs.
I hope that my posts can inspire someone to have a go at growing their own, I am not a gardening expert, I am just a bumbling mum of two with a trowel and I managed to produce some lovely things this year from a very small space. And if you need to find anything gardening related just click the gardening tab at the top and it will take you too all the gardening posts I have made so far.
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