In terms of yield and crop quality I have really struggled. The only saving grace is that I have still managed to produce some edible crops throughout the year and have generally faired better than other plotholders on my site. This isn't meant to be a case of one-upmanship but a statement of fact . What became apparent is that, as conditions remained poor, those poeple with a bit more knowledge and experience could still make things happen whereas many other people lost crops and simply gave up. I have never seen so many bare or weedy plots so early in the year and I trust these plotholders will put it down to experience and return for another go in 2013. I'm certain that this year will have put some people off but not me. Optimism prevails and I can already feel that 'something' in the air as I look forward to the first sowings of the new growing season.
I thought it would be interesting to look back on 2012 and chart my progress (or lack of) across the year.
January
A very quiet month. Not much happened at the plot to note other than the odd visit, some pruning and tidying and preparation for the growing season ahead. Bought seed potatoes at local potato day towards month end.
February
Started with quite a cold period and a heavy fall of snow. The site always looks beautiful in a blanket of white. This soon melted and the month became much milder, heralding a very early start to spring.
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| Allotment in snow - Feb 2012 |
An exceptionally warm and sunny month. Spring arrived early and the soil was bone dry after several months with below average rainfall. Talk on the site was that the warm weather had come too soon and we were all worried that nature would provide a backlash. Not daft these allotment folk!
Generally cold and very wet. The blossom got battered, seedlings sulked, the soil turned wet and cold and nothing wanted to grow. Things already in the ground or transplants did ok in the wet weather but direct sown seeds failed to germinate en masse.
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| Potatoes planted - note the very dry soil April 2012 |
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| Onions and garlic making their move - April 2012 |
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| Pear Beth in full blossom - later to be damaged by frost April 2012 |
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| Bee doing its thing on a rare sunny day April 2012 |
Apart from one very hot week it was also a cool and wet month. Things obviously progressed but, with poor light levels, many of the summer crops were really starting to struggle and becoming etiolated. Still very few seeds germinating in the cold wet ground and huge numbers of slugs and snails to hoover up whatever tried to grow.
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| Baby gooseberries make nice jam! May 2012 |
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| Potatoes pushing on - May 2012 |
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| Onions and garlic growing strong - May 2012 |
The wettest June on record and the poor growing conditions were a real setback to progress on the plot. June is usually a transition month - it can start off cool but by month end it is definitely summer. This year it remained cool and wet with very low light levels. Plants did not flourish and there was no spurt of growth. A wasted month at a very important time in the allotment calendar.
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| A sea of spuds! June 2012 |
Still not much improvement, although nowhere near as wet as June. By month end the dreaded blight had struck and all my tomatoes were wiped out in a weekend. It also spread to the potatoes but these were salvaged by cutting off the foliage and leaving the tubers in the ground for a couple of weeks. Some soft fruits were ready but the taste was bland with all the rain and lack of sunshine. The first apples were ready at the very end of the month - Beauty of Bath - but again these did not have a great flavour. I was succeeding in my quest to grow a melon. It was relatively sheltered from the poor conditions in my cold frame and things were looking promising. I was struggling to get enough male flowers to pollinate the few females but it was still early.
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| Total potato coverage July 2012 |
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| A meagre harvest July 2012 |
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| Beauty of Bath apples looking good July 2012 |
August
Things were miles behind by this stage and it was obvious that there would be a very poor return on my investment in my summer crops. By now I should have been harvesting buckets of beans, tomatoes and courgettes. In reality I was cropping some beans and the odd courgette and no tomatoes. I did have a good crop of onions which were lifted and dried in the shed. These lasted well into November and at the time of writing I still have shallots and garlic in store. The potato harvest was ok but they were riddled with slug holes. I still have some roosters and picasso in storage and they are ok but a lot is lost when preparing them to removing holes and black tunnels caused by slugs. Blackcurrant harvest was moderate but produced enough for a stunning batch of jam. Gooseberries suffered from mildew and there was no harvest as a result. Mr blackbird got my redcurrants but I wasn't that bothered as I still have some frozen from last year's bumper crop. The melon was starting to produce more flowers and it looked like I'd managed to pollinate a few. I had never progressed beyond this stage with a melon so it was somewhat ironic that I was managing to succeed during possibly the worst year to try and grow this tropical fruit!
September
Not actually a bad month with some warm sunshine to start helping the harvest of courgettes and beans along. In did turn a bit cooler at night though and it was noticeably the start of autumn as leaves started to colour early. The apple harvest from some trees was good - lord lambourne and rev wilkes - but others gave me nothing and I had one pear from three trees. I also ended up with no greengages and one lone denniston's superb plum. A range of winter and spring brassicas followed the potato crop with high hopes for healthy greens to fill next year's hungry gap. The sprouts were also progressing well and the desire to at least grow something for my Christmas dinner was to be accomplished.
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| A melon next to a blackberry! September 2012 |
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| In reality it tasted bland - September 2012 |
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| Courgette doing its thing 2 months too late - September 2012 |
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| A lonesome pear - September 2012 |
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| My new pride and joy - September 2012 |
October
Putting the plot to bed now. It was obvious that the grapes would not ripen. A few apples continued with the bramley offering an ok return. They were in poor condition though with scab, bitter pit and general markings both outside and in. They did not keep or store well so the last few were turned into chutney. The ashmead's kernel carried one gnarled fruit and the laxton superb had a fallow year. The first frosts of the year killed off the courgette, bean and squash plants. Because the ground was saturated I started off my winter onions and garlic in modules under cover. There is some green showing already and I'll nurture them indoors until February or March depending on conditions at the time.
November
A very quiet time on the plot. Some general tidying and clearing for the annual burn-up on November 5th. Brassicas continued to grow well and the leeks were healthy if still a bit small to harvest. I acquired a greenhouse frame which will be my winter project. Much of the glass was damaged and so I removed this and transported the frame to my plot. Unfortunatey a greenhouse derives most of its strength from the glass. With this missing it collapsed in a heap after a gale and will need rebuiling in the New Year. A cool, wet month generally.
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| A frosty morning November 2012 |
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| Still standing November 2012 |
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| Icewine anyone? November 2012 |
December
The last month of 2012 started cold and frosty but soon became milder and wetter again. The garden is in stasis now - nothing grows, nothing rots, as if the plot is in suspended animation. The water butts are full and overflowing and the ground is too wet to work. I have some mushroom compost to spread but I'm glad I haven't found the time to do it yet as much of the goodness would have been leached away by the incessant rain. A good job for early 2013. Sprouts picked for Christmas, still some spuds and shallots in store, some summer crops preserved as jams and chutneys to see me through the winter. I have seed catalogues in hand and I'm trying my best to squeeze in a few more fruit trees. I'm thinking another row of cordons for Christmas Pippin, Scrumptious and Pitmasten Pineapple apples and a Concorde pear. I have also rescued an Eggremont Russet apple which I think will make a great step-over with a bit of careful pruning.
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| Oops! December 2012 |
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| Happy Christmas December 2012 |
It may be deep winter outside but my sap is rising and I'm looking forward to the challenge of 2013. I'll eat my hat if next year is worse than this and I'm already thinking where I can plant my celery, which chilli pepper to grow and whether I should try tomatillos again...
Best wishes for 2013!
