It's been a long time

Having had lots of problems logging in (in no small part due to transferring from Tiscali to BT and subsequently losing access to all emails) I have finally managed to wade through the google "help" pages and regain access here! Whoop whoop.

Clearly the main growing focus for me has been our gorgeous son - who, not surprisingly is growing at a decent rate, and is quite literally off the chart.

Anyway - you guys having seen him for a while, so it's only right I post an update pic.



Well, here we are again almost at the end of another season - this will have been my third I think. Several things growing well, and some that have not faired too well at all.

Going well:

Sweetcorn - albeit once again growing at 45 degrees due to the wind.
Beetroot
Carrots - in the tubes, in a wheelbarrow
Cabbages - but have mostly been eaten by something
Kohl Rabi - just need to figure out how to cook/eat it
Beans - Runners, French Dwarf & Climbers
Rhubarb (after initial worries)
Raspberries - although the plants are threatening to take over the plot unless I get busy pruning!
Potatoes - although I'm not sure if they were blighted or not (guess we'll find out when we try and store them)
Squash - Chicago Warted Hubbard. This was a real surprise, it's a HSL variety and I'd almost given up hope on, until the weekend when we had some friend over and they helped with some weeding in return for roast dinner. During the process I uncovered a football sized fruit looking really good, so I'll keep an eye out for more, and watch this one with interest.
Chillies - plants from last year are all fruiting well, with some already dried and stored
Broad Beans - Martock. Seeds saved form last year and plenty of plants/pods. All died now, but will have more next year.

Not so great:

Peas - again, far too few planted and not tended properly
Onions - some decent sized, some like shallots. All planted at the same time.
Courgettes - only just started producing fruits now. Bout 5 varieties and only 1-2 plants are fruiting.
Baby corn - planted at a similar time to sweetcorn but seems a long way off any cobs starting.
Swiss Chard - got forgotten about
Tomatoes - 1 tomato fruit growing from 3 plants. Don't think I'll bother next year, maybe try some outdoor varieties

The plot still needs a lot of work to get it to a point where input is minimal from me - having Hayden has really made me realise that time on the plot will be a premium, at least until he's toddling.

Plenty of plans for the winter months to include moving my compost bin and adding another two. Hard pruning the apple tree. Creating more raised beds - maybe a nursery bed of some sort. Creating a bit of a flower bed under/around teh apple tree to help attract beneficial insects. Get the rest of the plot "bedded out" and create mulched pathways between to help surpress weeds.

I've been a bit lax with the camera as I've not been posting here so have seen little point, but hopefully now I'll start to log progress again and have some visual references too.

Until then - it's good to be back.