2009 in review and looking forward to 2010...

Well it's a slightly belated Happy New Year from me, namely because I'm a lazy so-and-so and haven't been bothered to write anything, even though work has been impossible in recent weeks and I've been pretty much at a loose end since I took down the tree and polished off the last of the Christmas fayre. A fortnight on, the wintry blast has receeded somewhat, to be replaced in traditional English fashion with a horrible wet, slightly less cold but thoroughly miserable day.

I can take this no longer, so to cheer myself up I've decided to look back at last year's successes and failures and place my seed order for 2010.

A review of 2009
This was an interesting year weather-wise as we had cold and snow early on, a mild dry spring, a rubbish summer, a very dry and mild early autumn, a very wet November and then a hard cold snap in the lead up to Christmas.

In general I've been very satisfied with the variety and amount of produce from the plot this year, taking a regular harvest of fresh fruit and veg. to keep us going right up to the end of December. I've finally got the hang of (although by no means have I mastered) planning a succession of crops to avoid gluts and famines. It takes a bit of time and thought but sowing regularly and often and having an idea of what you want to grow next and what it will replace resulted in very little unused or fallow growing space at the plot.

Of course variety in the winter months is limited, with brassicas and root vegetables the mainstay, but I've produced and stored enough to keep us going in parnsips, swede, scorzonera, beetroot, potatoes, leeks and cabbages. I still have the white sprouting broccoli to look forward to in spring and there are still leeks and root vegetables in the ground that I might be able to use if the soil thaws a bit more. I've also got some over-wintering onions, shallots and broad beans in the ground so that should also help to bring forward this coming year's harvest.

Plus Points for 2009
Most root crops, apart from carrots...
Sweetcorn
Runner, French and Borlotti beans
Potatoes
Courgettes
Leeks
Most soft fruit
My first ever home-grown apricots!

Must do better
Tomatoes - blight again
Chillies - loads of flowers, not much fruit
Melons - loads of flowers, no fruit
Asparagus - waste of space?
Top fruit - after a promising start the trees delivered very little
Carrots - still not mastered them
Squashes - not a bad crop but I've done better in other years

Looking forward to 2010
The 'giant Kelsae onion project' is already underway. About half have germinated and they'll be nurtured in a special way to ensure they become monsters by the summer. Beyond that I won't be sowing anything for a while but my fruit rees and bushes should arrive soon after a delay due to the weather. I'm looking forward to my first attempt at grafting apples - the chosen varieties for this experiment will be James Grieve and Howgate Wonder and I'll provide regular updates with progress.

My seed order is pretty small this year as I want to use what I already have first. If the old seed doesn't germinate I'll buy some new. The list includes an extortionate variety of mini cucumber - £3.15 for 4 seeds! That said, one plant will do as I'm the only one who eats them and they sound prolific.

I've also splashed out on some fresh tomato seed - Tumbling Tom yellow for baskets, Fantasio F1 is meant to be blight resistant, and I've bought some more Sungold F1 as I think they're my favourite. I'll grow them outside and the polytunnel will be reserved for a second attempt at melons, some chillies, and maybe a few beefsteak tomatoes. Honey Bantam F1 is my preferred variety of sweetcorn and I've ordered two packs. The idea is to sow early and late so I can spread the harvest over a longer period of time. I've also chosen a striped variety of courgette - San Pasquale - as it looks interesting.

As for parsnips, I'm going to try a germination test with some of my old seed to see what happens. Conventional wisdom is that parnsip seed doesn't store well and you need fresh every year. I'm not sure how much truth there is in this or whether it's just a ruse to get us buying new seed each year... If they don't germinate on some damp tissue paper indoors, I'll run to the shops, tail well and truly between my legs, to buy some fresh seeds!

So there you have it. That was 2009 and this is 2010. As ever the new year is filled with fresh optimism for a long and successful growing season ahead. I've got a few jobs planned before the work really picks up - I'm moving the polytunnel to create space for my fruit bushes and also so it gets more sun and there is a new path to lay around the shed - which I'll get on with when conditions allow. There'll be regular posts from me as and when there's something to say, so I hope you keep popping back from time to time to see how things are progressing on my plot at the beautiful Woodthorpe Allotments.