Year: 2021

A slight digression at the start of today’s video as I share my lovely start to the day…..and then it’s on with the jobs. Today’s jobs are some of those little odd jobs that can easily get forgotten…..I made a list of them after filming the September tour to remind myself….so, time to get stuck in….yay!

Hahahaha…….I’m late with pretty much everything this year…..including my ‘thoughts on….’ for the month of August. Time has not been on my side…….never mind, come and join me in the kitchen for a natter and a think out loud.

It’s only a couple of weeks since I showed you (very late) the garden in August. In that time there have been quite a few jobs done to get my garden back on track…..and tamed a bit. I hope you can see the difference as the garden heads into autumn…….ahh, mellow colours and ripening produce…..September is a wonderful month when the rewards start to come.

Goodness me, like so many other jobs in the garden this one is about four weeks later than normal……..but better late than never! I am getting my last lot of winter brassicas planted today from seeds sown back in April. I’m planting purple sprouting broccoli, calabrese and savoy cabbages. Oh…..and the following morning, as I finish off the jobs, I try out my new garden pinny.

Today my attention is turning towards seed saving to ensure a garden for next year (and many more to come I hope). Actually, seed saving is something I think about throughout the season as my plants are growing. I talk today about how I select my seeds for saving and the process I use to make sure they store well…I reference the Koanga Institute in New Zealand and have included a link which takes you to a gorgeous video of their seed bank.

In which I chat about getting out and about and make like Ronnie Corbett chatting in ‘the chair’….all around the houses for a wee catch up. Ach, once again my camera has decided it cannot cope with my face…….so maybe have a listen whilst doing something else rather than just watching! Ach, sorry!

It’s time to start rescuing this garden! It’s a green jungle……and I love that…….but there are so many veggies I ought to have picked in the last few weeks…….if I don’t do it now they’ll rot and all the effort will have been for nothing. I also want to encourage my plants to continue producing. Weeding and grass trimming can come later!

Today I’m having a bit of a chat about my gardening year so far……it’s fair to say it hasn’t been my best…in fact, it has been my worst ever. HOWEVER……this is NOT a pity-party, rather a reflection on where things went wrong and what, if anything, I can do next year to make things better again. There’s always hope and I am never defeated!

Yay for the first big harvest in – the onions! Today I talk all things onions…..from varieties, seeds vs. sets, soil types, bed prep, on-going care of the onion crop, harvesting, processing ready for storage, storage and storage problems. It’s a proper onion fest today! My varieties this year are Red Baron (the reds!) and Sturon and Cupido (the whites). This is how I grow and store enough onions to keep me going for an entire year.

Rather later than usual here is a tour of the garden in August. Gosh, it is very clear that the garden has been unattended for nearly a month……it’s a bit of a jungle…..a glorious jungle!