Kitchen Garden Forum

I'm struggling a bit this year to maintain my enthusiasm. What with one thing and another I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to get up and get out there.
Is anyone else like that?

Dear FatB, i must say i am very lucky and theres not a day goes past when i'm not chopping at the bit to get out there.
I must admit there have been days when i have wanted to get back in again though, what with all this rain.

If i'm ever feeling just that little fed up with it all, i just go for a walk, and just see what nature has to offer, and what we walk past most of the time without even noticing. It really does give one a lift.

And you give us all a lift OH.
Thanks

Alan

Cheer up FatB, the vagaries of the weather are what makes living in England so wonderful (I am presuming it's all the rain that's getting you down).

A friend of mine live in Papua New Guinea for a year and for the first few months waxed lyrical about the weather. Every day the sun came up, the day was glorious, the sun went down, it rained over night, the sun came up, the day was glorious... and so on ad nauseum. After six months he was desperate to get home for some unpredictable weather.

This year I admit I was upset when I lost all my outdoor tomatoes and the maincrop potatoes are so blighted I'm digging up less than I planted. However, the soft fruit is great, the brassicas are brilliant and the courgettes and beans are doing well too. Last year the tomatoes were brilliant but the beans, cabbages and courgettes were pathetic. Swings and roundabouts.

Be philosophical about it and remember, there's always next year.

I usually experience a lull in my enthusiasm at this time of year. I think it's because most of the tasks are (to me) not very interesting. Lots of weeding and picking and processing. I much prefer sowing seeds, planting out and seeing my mental image of how I would like the garden to look take shape.

I'm with you J.G. I popped down to the lottie this morning and harvested some french beans (1st crop) and a few other items. The sight of the lopped off potatoes was depressing as were the weeds everywhere. BUT I have just had sauted beans for lunch and it revived me considerably, I was almost tempted to start looking at seeds for next year!

I do know how you feel.

However, i've just come through a major health scare (with brilliant moral and emotional support from The Grock) and I now look at the weeds differently.

Life's beautiful but shit does happen. Nothing you can do except carry on. The weather is bad, the harvest maybe poorer this year but you're alive. That's worth celebrating.

Well said Lizzie

It's been a bit disappointing here this year - started off with great promise, then got flooded out several times and lost lots of the garden.

We've got masses of courgettes and spuds, but no peas. The beans are struggling. All of the spinach sowings have gone straight to seed, but the cabbages look the best ever. We've had a few raspberries and strawberries but most of them dissolved in the rain. However the blackberries are shaping up well.

The stone fruit are so full of water they're splitting on the trees whilst still green. Most of the walnuts have dropped off the trees, but the pears and apples look promising.

It's a funny (peculiar) year. Like Lizzie said though, let's count our blessings.

I just love Sunday mornings, everything is so nice a peaceful, thats apart from me whistling as i go to wind the Church clock of course.

Reading what Tigger's said abour her spinach, some of my lettuce is going straight to seed without getting any decent leaves on at all, is this caused by the rain and cold? As the lettuce will take quite cold temperatures I'm not at all sure.

I think they call it stress Chantal, like people, plants don't perform at their best when stressed.

But why only one sort of a mixed selection of lettuce? The rest are doing fine. Do I have some neurotic seeds in there? They are Italian so I suppose they may not all have the British stiff upper lip in the face of adversity and rain of biblical proportions

I think you have hit the nail on the head there Old girl, Aay what.

I've not posted much since I put up "Reasons to be cheerful" viewtopic.php?t=4172&highlight=cheerful
the other week and then saw Clive's pictures and later watched all the awful flooding. I've spent a lot of time feeling sorry for those who have suffered so badly and counting my own woes as very minor.
Today the sun's shining again. I've planned next year's potato growing (this year's are a write off). Grow less and earlier. Courgettes are turning into marrows already. Climbing beans are everywhere. The hedgerow blackberries are ripe. There's a cracking crop of apples. My young cockerel has had his first try at crowing...
Yes, next year will be a good one.

Alan