Review of my year ... and plans for the next

[Farmer_Gyles]

I was stood in the greenhouse in the pouring rain, just admiring my veggies and I just felt pleased with what I've achieved this year
I'm still very much a beginner but I'm feeling very positive

I had a late start this year - didn't get the greenhouse up until late April, most of my sowings and plantings were late, weeds were still rampant, and I've lost some veggies to weather / slugs or just me not knowing what I was doing - I didn't have seeds or enough pots or compost - the garden was still fairly overgrown

But I've had a lot more success than I expected - sweetcorn / lettuce / runner beans / rocket / celery / red cabbage / sprouts / cauliflower / tomatoes / cucumber / peppers / gooseberries / raspberries / loganberries / spinach / rhubarb / peas / swede / radish / carrot - and apart from a few days hard work, it's all been achieved with an hour a day, 4 or 5 days a week

OK so only one rhubarb left and not brilliant but it's there - and only had 6 pea pods and 4 raspberries - but I'm still proud!

I will do much better next year
I will get ground dug over in plenty of time - will start digging over in autumn / winter
I will buy in all my seeds / pots / compost / whatever I need over the winter
I will start sowing seeds as early as possible
I've learnt when to pot on, what size pots to use for most things, what composts and feeds to use
I will have my watering systems fully set up to save time and effort
I will make more efficient use of my land to grow a lot more
It doesn't matter that I'll grow a whole lot more than I could ever eat - I can swap it or give it away - my mother loves cooking!

The future's bright, the future's green!

I'm gonna try and get the kids involved more - gonna try getting them to make plum jam next week - wish me luck!

[Sue]

FG
How lovely to see someone with a sense of humour and optimism! After all this rain am feeling very glum...
Agree with all that you say, I had my first year last year and it was the fact that something grew and I could eat it that was wonderful, even though there were more disasters than successes. You get hooked and hope to do even better.
I'd just say on the sowing seeds early front, it does pay to wait, there's been a lot of posts on this subject and it seems that the late sowers catch up with the "can't waits". Sow too early and you have seed trays, little pots everywhere waiting for the warmth of late May and early June. Things get spindly and weak too I think, but you can start early with peppers and aubergines and tomatoes and can get stuck in now for overwintering stuff.

best wishes
Sue

[rustylady]

I agree, it's really good to hear plans for next year. Everyone seems to be so down at the moment due to the terrible weather and poor crops. Come on everyone - think positive. Thanks Farmer Gyles.

[HeyWayne]

WOW! You've done a hell of a lot better than me and I got my plot in February!

Job well done I'd say!

Keep up the good work, a real inspiration for us lazy @rses that expect things to just happen.

[moggssue]

I'm with you FG - my first year and mixed successes and failures but I WILL do better next year. Have to be optimistic or else what's the point? Good on you!!

[cottage garden]

Fantastic..you should feel proud!

My plans for next year involve a lot of slug prevention........a LOT of slug prevention...

[Sue]

I will be mostly trying to get on top of successional sowing....AND I'm going to grow some sunflowers and keep the slugs off (somehow).
And I must do something about a fruit cage
Sue

[Farmer_Gyles]

cheers guys - it's good to be positive, good to see i'm not the only one feeling positive!

I've kinda made a list of things to get for next year - more canes, more slug pellets, more small pots and plugs and seed trays, netting, general purpose compost, seed compost etc etc
i have a list of various fruit and veg to grow (therefore a list of seeds to buy)

i could be very busy next year so want to be very organised with the fruit and veg - so i'm working on a plan for planting out - and from that i can work out a sowing plan

and yeah i know about the best laid plans .... but still gonna give it a go
and if it all goes tits up, then it's more lessons learned for the following year!

[heebiejeebie]

My season's resolutions...
plan planting so I have fresh stuff all year round
do the weeding more regularly
order a realistic amount of compost to be delivered to me instead of frequent trips to the shop for small bags that I can carry

[Headfry]

It's paper pots all the way for me next year. I will start making them during the dark winter days! They have been great this year, the first time I have used them.
Collect more water
Another bee hive
Renovate the old pig sty
More cloches
Have a go at forcing rhubarb!
Plant over wintering onions!
ooooooh cant wait for the new growing year!

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks FG for posting such a positive thread.

My next year gardening resolutions include
not planting so close or so many plants (I've taken pictures of the current burgeoning crop in the tunnel to remind myself!) and
labelling EVERYTHING (been very naughty at that this year and now I don't know which crops have performed well)

[dinah gale]

Next year...

The gardener's mantra - "There's always next year".

That's what I have been saying as I've pulled up blight-ridden tomatoes and dug sacks of slug-eaten Cara potatoes so next year I'll certainly treat the ground with nematodes if I think of growing maincrop spuds, which I probably shall (but not Cara perhaps - Sante haven't been quite so badly affected). Blight got the spuds too but I cut the stems down early and it had only gone down into the tubers on a few of the plants. what a b... of a year for blight!

I'll prepare the ground well next year too. This has been my first full year on the lottie and the sections I've manured have produced well.

Also I'll pot on in good time so that nice, healthy looking plants don't end up looking scraggy because I didn't get around to dealing with them.

Yes, successional sowing too. When things are growing away happily I forget that you have to keep sowing to keep a regular supply of the stuff.

In short, I'll be a bloomin' paragon and my plot will be the envy of my neighbours what with all the cutting flowers (thanks Sarah Raven) I'll have too.

Is that a dream bubble above my head?