Gardening - Challenges and Sucesses

Despite the amount of time that we've spent on the barn the potager has been productive again this year. The weather was cold, wet and extremely challenging through the Spring - as we all agreed at Claudette and Jean's summer garden party - and in July it got worse. We had multiple sowing failures of beans, spinach and parsnips and everything is weeks later than last year. In 2011 we had enough potatoes to get us through to February, this year a devastating attack of blight means that we've just had to buy potatoes again. Some things did very well however, particularly the soft fruit and we had great crops of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Blackberry in flower

This Blackberry was originally growing two houses ago in Farnborough, a root was then taken which is growing strongly in Suffolk at Judith and Steve's house and a further rooting made it over to France in 2010 on the removal truck. This one produced nearly 25 pounds of fruit this year and yet another rooting is growing ready to be transferred to the top potager this winter.

Despite the failures and problems we have had some spectacular successes. Last year we couldn't grow courgettes at all - this year they've been brilliant:

 Almost all the root crops have done well; beetroot and celeriac particularly so. The peach tree produced a large crop although about three weeks later than in previous years and the ever reliable walnut is beginning to drop another large crop of walnuts although again it's about three weeks later than last year.

Saving the best to last - our pumpkin and butternut squash crop has been excellent:

Harvest Day

 Nigel Slater has a great recipe for Pumpkin and Butternut Squash: Nigel Slater Recipe