October calendar 2016

The garden is now being shut down for the winter, with only leeks and our tuscan kale left for picking. Last year the kale lasted us all through the winter into spring.

The blueberry bushes and our pear tree are putting on a fine display of autumn colours at the moment and in the flower garden we still have a few roses blooming and the cosmos never seems to give in, even after a couple of frosts.

 

September Calendar

It was a very dry September this year, with some record breaking temperatures. Combined with the dry summer it meant we had a very meagre potato crop this year. The earlies got blight and the main crop were very small. The courgettes and squash have been excellent again this month and we have apples on two of our trees.

 

The star flowers at the moment are the asters and the never ending morning glory.

 

June calendar

Sophie among the rocombales

The first couple of weeks of June were very wet here and slowed down our progress in the garden but not our plants or the weeds!  We are now experiencing a dry warm period and it’s good to see all the plants progressing.

Red and blackcurrants are ripening and since moving the rhubarb it’s been the best year for it. The onions suffered some hail damage but are now – in the last few days of heat and sunshine – fighting back.

At the moment we are into a strawberry glut and are picking a bowl a day.

The wild flowers in the garden continue to impress and the new border is beginning to settle in well.

October calendar 2015

kale

The nights are drawing in and becoming colder, down to 3C last night. So the garden is mostly shutting down, though the kale and leeks keep going!

looking south

garden shed

borlotti beans

looking north

jerusalem artichoke flowers

jerusalem artchoke flowers

The autumn colours are showing well in the garden, especially our beech tree.

There are also a few flowers hanging on into late autumn, giving some extra colour to the garden.

last rose of summer

anemone

calendula

January Calendar 2015

Its been a mild January this year, with the temperature only dipping below -4 on a couple of nights. We have had a couple of periods of snow so far, 3-4 cm each time so not too disruptive. Kale is the only veg left in the garden now as the rest shuts down for winter, though spring bulbs are beginning to appear around the garden.

February Calendar

House and garden looking north

Its been a fairly mild and dry winter here so far and February has also followed this pattern. Temperatures have only rarely gone below freezing and we have only had a couple of snow flurries over night. It has also given us many bright sunny days, even warm enough to sit outside some days. Due to illness nothing much has gone on in the garden maintenance wise and its pretty much shut down until March/April. The purple sprouting broccoli that survived the early frost and snow in November are now looking good and should give us a harvest come March. I’m also hopeful of some growth spurt in the next few weeks from the savoy cabbage. Other than that its time to order seeds and particularly seed potatoes and plan whats going where this year.

Garden looking south

Raised beds looking south

Stump and primroses

Strawberry ice

Garden pot

Calendar 2014: January

Over at the Grapevine we are posting monthly views of our gardens/allotments to show and record the changes that occur during the year. I thought I would do the same here and post the relevant monthly photos.

The savoy cabbages are under netting as are the surviving purple sprouting broccoli. The heavy snow in November caused a lot of damage and the netting should protect the crops – somewhat – from any further snow and ice. Though I will think twice about growing PSB again, its a very long growing season and they need a lot of TLC to survive here.

Looking south from the garden shed

 

The fruit trees have all been pruned, which was a bit of a fraught job, as we have never done this before. Finger crossed that we have done it correctly, only time will tell.

Looking north through the orchard.