This has to be one of the worst Summers I’ve experienced since living in Scotland, incessant rain, unseasonal high winds and low temperatures (we’ve had to put our heating back on) means that we don’t really have much to show for our gardening efforts this year.
Our local Rural Produce Show at Carlops is coming up on the 20th August but I doubt we’ll have much to enter this year. I thought I’d catalogue what we’ve grown and where we are with them, it’s a sorry tale…
Eggs – down to 2 chickens after two fox attacks
Gooseberries – 2 berries between two bushes
Blackcurrants – about enough to make one pot of jam
Courgettes – doing ok – they like the rain
Potatoes – small potatoes & small crops
Rhubarb – plentiful
Apples – not a single blossom this year so definitely no apples
Salad – radishes are good, lettuces & salad leaves are ok
Garlic – usual crop, quite small
Beans – doing ok
Carrots & Parnsips – doing ok
Herb Garden – doing very well, the Mint has gone bananas
Tomatoes (indoors) – late but plentiful and starting to ripen
Tomatoes (outdoors) – not worth mentioning
Ginger – doing well
Sweet Peppers – doing ok but not ripening
Strawberries – very poor
Raspberries – the wild ones in front of the house are doing well
Chillies – smaller than usual
Looks like we’ll need to enter the baking or preserves classes if we want to get involved this year. Everything crossed that next year isn’t such a washout.
