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 Veg Journal - 2010

Welcome to our Veg Journal for 2010 - a diary recording all the day-to-day observations we make about our veg plot, illustrated with lots of photos.

We hope you enjoy browsing through our Journal entries using the menu on the left hand side of the page or the links in the Month by Month section below. Don't forget to browse the Related Pages links in the right hand column of each page as you go.


Click on any of the photos on this page for larger versions.

2010 in Summary

The veg plot in autumn with raised beds completed

This year we began recording our veg growing activities on an almost daily basis with the hope that we can compare notes on how well things grow, together with yields etc., year on year. In 2010 we completed the last 2 raised beds in our original plan and continued to renovate the potting shed. We decided to tailor-make some nets from Enviromesh to protect the brassicas and root vegetables, which took several months. In the second half of the year we successfully tried our hand at chutney making, and in December we had the coldest spell of weather for years.

Month by Month

January - There is no journal page for this month as it was before we started keeping any records. I suspect that we stayed inside, possibly working out which seeds we were going to buy, and waiting impatiently for warmer weather!

February - We started keeping our veg growing journal in the middle of this month, but didn't record much in it. I don't think we did any work in the garden, and as far as harvesting goes, the only vegetables left from 2009 were the leeks, so they would probably have been picked throughout the month.

Slabbing complete around the first new bed

March - Apart from sowing lots of different veg, one of the main tasks for this month included creating the first of two beds for the potatoes, in front of the potting shed. This started quite well as the weather was mostly dry in the first half of the month, but didn't quite finish in time to plant the early potatoes at the end of the month as planned. It was too wet and cold by then anyway. We also ordered and received the Enviromesh netting and support frames this month; after due consideration, we began the mammoth task of designing and making the tailored netting cages.

April - We finished both of the new raised beds this month, which brings the total to 10; 2 for each veg grouping in the 5-year rotation. The Enviromesh cages were still being made, and, because of the generally warm and dry weather, lots of seed sowing was done in the plot. As well as lots of seedlings coming through, there were the pests to deal with, so the netting cage production was stepped up a notch!

Making a trench for sowing peas

May - Lots more sowing and planting done this month, and also the start of harvesting some of the salad crops. Again, emerging pests were something of a puzzle, and our method of sowing the brassicas in the actual beds rather than a seed bed didn't really work - most of the seedlings died. Most of May was warm or hot, with very little rain, which didn't really suit the greenhouse plants, but it did enable some work on the potting shed to be done, and our bespoke netting cages were finally completed.

June - Probably the busiest month in the veg plot! Most of the crops had been sown by now, but successional plantings were still in progress, and some crops needed supports adding as they grew. A lot of veg was ready for harvesting, particularly broad beans, peas and new potatoes, and the salad crops were ticking along nicely. The greenhouse crops were still struggling as the weather was very hot for most of the month, along with some thundery downpours, but there were flowers on the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers so it was hopeful they would produce at least something.

Runner bean flowers

July - Harvesting began in earnest and there was the almost inevitable glut, so we froze, pickled and chutneyed quite a lot of the broad beans, marrows and beetroot. The weather was warm and wet at times, which seemed to be ideal conditions for pests, including some caterpillars which got in underneath the netting! We also did some more renovation on the potting shed, and started refurbishing its interior.

August - This was the first month when we could (almost) sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of our labours. There was quite a lot of clearing which needed doing as earlier crops finished, and still the fight against aphids and caterpillars. But the tomato harvest was starting to be good!

September - More harvesting, preserving and tidying this month. The potatoes, tomatoes and sweetcorn were particularly good, although the outdoor tomatoes were at risk from frost at times. We also did a bit more on the potting shed while the weather was still warm enough.

October - The number of vegetables we could pick was noticeably lower this month. The frosts meant that the outdoor tomatoes were over, but we continued to harvest from the plants in the greenhouse. Looking forward to next year, we prepared the ground for the overwintering peas and broad beans.

The veg plot under heavy snow

November - We still managed to harvest a few things from the greenhouse this month, but mainly we were picking cabbages and root veg, and tidying away the netting cages as the butterflies were gone. The overwintering peas and broad beans were planted, and we had our first snow of the year at the end of November.

December - We had our coldest month for years, and rather than doing any gardening, it was more a matter of working out how to get the vegetables out of the ground!

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