The thing with gardening is that you are strongly dependent on the weather. Through gardening I have realised a few things...
1- Cornwall gets a lot of rain
2- Cornwall is prone to drought
3- Cornwall is very windy
All three have played havoc with my new garden this year. First we were put under a drought order, following a hot March during which there was heaps of watering with a watering can. This was followed by heavy rain that seemed to go on for weeks, leading to some very soggy plants. During this time my new plastic covered greenhouse was blown over three times - I know they aren't that strong but I didn't expect them to go down so easily. Each time was followed by the horrible and depressing task of trying to rescue my poor seedlings from the upside down jumble of pot, soil and greenery. A few tears were shed the first couple of times, but by the third time it was a more matter of fact job of just tidying up as quickly as possible!
Early days ---- May 2012
Somehow the garden has made it though. Though most of my vegetables are not at all productive. So far there have been a few sugar snap peas, peas, strawberries, potatoes, courgettes and tomatoes, though certainly not enough to make more than a meal or two. The remaining plants aren't liked to give much more either and are mostly looking rather awful now. I console myself with the awareness that many of my more experienced gardening friends have not fared much better this year.
At the moment my plans for next year are not to focus much on vegetables after this years poor crops. Instead I plan to concentrate on flowers so that the garden will look great and be a lovely environment to sit in and enjoy. I've planted lots of perennials seeds to overwinter for flowering next spring/ summer and have been buying lots of flower seeds ready for sowing next year (most are half price this time of year).
August 2012 - plenty of growth but not much in the way of actual vegetables!
I really wish I had grown more veg, but, if nothing else, at least this years experience of gardening has given me a love of it- and if I can enjoy something when it doesn't go right too much then I think I may have joined the ranks of the "proper Gardeners". I even garden in the rain! (My kids think I've gone mad when I do). So now, when I see the weather forecast, my thoughts go to whether I'll need to water, drain trays or stand up fallen plants- I now realise that weather will happen and I just have to cope with it...
So until next time, take care
Gillian
