Harvest during 2019

A few years ago we decided it might be interesting to record all the fruit and vegetables we harvest and see the totals at the end of the year.

This is the total from January to December 2019

Those highlighted in pink were measured in single pieces, the rest were weighed in grams

Sounds a lot of produce, we did not eat it all!.

Although we do eat a lot of it , we give some to friends and family and the rest we sell from a trolley at the bottom of the drive.

The money we raise we give to various charities at the end of the year.

This year we raised over £400 and gave the money raised on the NGS open day plant and produce sales to their charities. We also gave to The Ellen Badger Hospital in Shipston, Carers4carers Kineton, The National Eczema society and the Heritage Seed library Ryton.

February on the radio!

We were contacted by BBC local radio, Coventry and Warwickshire, asking if they could come and talk to us live on the Saturday morning gardening show. A bit scary but we said yes so on February 1st Keith Wedgebury arrived with his microphone. We chatted for about 10 mins waiting for our allotted time, 11.30 pm. As it was a very windy day we started in the green house, moving outside towards the end of the interview.

Keith was very good at asking the right questions to get us talking and the whole thing lasted around 7 minutes.

Later in the day we listened to the programme, the Mollie Green show, on BBC sounds.

We realised there was much more we could have said but we did manage to slip in our National Garden Scheme (NGS) Open Garden on 6th and 7th June this year and also events at our local community Orchard (WOT2Grow) . We are heavily involved in this project and were able to advertise the annual Apple Day, October 10th 2020 and the Wassail January 16th 2021.

Quite an experience, we are now back to working in the garden, it has been even windier this week so we were lucky with the timing of the broadcast.

I hate it when people say they have put their garden to bed until spring.

The garden never completely shuts down over winter some plants die down and retreat underground until spring, decidious trees loose their leaves and go to sleep until spring. Dead plant heads if left in the garden over winter provide food for birds and shelter for many small insects, also providing architectural interest in the garden.

While all this is going on, other plants in the garden are putting on their show.

The bulbs are coming through and in January we see the yellow of aconites, the white and many varied green marks of the snowdrops.

Snowdrops under the hawthorn trees

Aconites under the pear tree

Also in flower in the garden in January are the yellow flowered Mahonia, the evergreen clematis, “Freckles”,winter jasmine and lots of hellibores. The new flowers come before the leaves on the hellibores so cut last years old leaves off at ground level just before the new flower shoots emerge and you can see them in their full glory.

Mahonia flowers in January

Clematis freckles

Other colours in the garden now are the yellow winter jasmine, the primrose and primula and not forgetting all the shades of green from evergreen bushes and shrubs as well as the ferns.

Ferns in January

Christmas

Each year in December I go around the garden collecting greenery to make Christmas wreaths to go on the front door, garden gate and entrance gates.

The natural base is made of ivy, cornus and hazel sticks, reusable every year (been going for five years now) and can be composted when they do break down.

Ivy, Holly and fir cones from the garden, by the front gate

Ivy, Pyracantha and apples on the entrance gates

Pyracantha and holly on the garden gate

The only non recyclable part of these wreaths is a small amount of florists wire to attach some of the pieces. These I carefully remove, straighten and re use the next year. The base and fir cones will be saved for next year and the rest is composted.

The blackbirds love the apples so I put those on the gates.

Frost

Last week we had a few welcome frosts in the garden.

They are essential for some plants, make the garden look lovely and help keep pests and disease under control. Unfortunately they did not last long and we are back to warmer and wetter conditions.

Garlic needs the cold weather over the winter to help the bulbs separate into the individual cloves. Parsnips and celeriac are also much sweeter after the first frost as the cold converts some of the starch into sugars.

Many plants and their seed stalks look great in the winter and even better when covered in a frost or light covering of snow.

Frost on the large leaf sage

Frost on Alchemilla Mollis

The frost has also helped the mistletoe berries to whiten, we are selling lots for charity again so hopefully people will come and buy over the next few weeks.

mistletoe

Garlic and onions

The rain has actually stopped and we have had no rain for 2 days!

However with all the rain we have had over the last month or so, the ground is still too wet to plant anything, we have heavy clay!

Autumn sown onions such as Autumn Champion and Senshyu, shallot Longor , elephant garlic and garlic Endrose have all been waiting in the shed to go in the ground, this should have been done in October. The garlic needs several months of very cold weather to enable them to separate into the individual cloves.

We decided this week that they really do need to start growing so have planted them in modules. They will root there and then can be planted into the soil when it dries a bit having all ready started the growing cycle.

Onions and garlic planted in modules waiting for the ground to dry a bit

A month gone by

November already and we have been busy dodging showers and waiting for the ground to dry a bit.

The garlic and onions we usually plant in October for an early crop are still in the shed waiting for the ground to dry a bit, it has been so wet.

Jobs that have been done over the past month are, bubble wrap one of the unheated green houses. This keeps the space a little warmer and protects some of the tender plants in pots over the winter. Aeonium, one of my favourites, fuchsia, chilli peppers, citrus, canna lily, Cautleya spictata and more Aeonium!

The frosts earlier in the month have blackened the dahlias, so they have been cut down. I am leaving them in the ground so following a suggestion from a friend they are now covered with a sheet of cardboard covered with a good 10cm of home made compost, hopefully this will protect the tubers from this winter’s frosts.

The pond has been tidied by cutting down all the plants and swapping the pump and filter for aeration bubbles to stop the pond freezing and keep the fish safe over winter.

Asparagus, now turning yellow has been cut down and again mulched with compost.

The autumn colours are still lovely with lots of coloured leaves and red berries abound.

Cherry leaves

Cotoneaster berries

Looking forward to a drier November!!