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 Veg Journal - 2011

Welcome to our Veg Journal for 2011 - 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.

2011 in Summary

Gardener's Delight cherry tomatoes

We began to get into our stride in the vegetable garden this year, although there were still a few surprises. After a very cold winter and dry spring, the crops of potatoes in particular were much lower than in 2010, but our strategy of sowing the tomato seed a month earlier worked to some extent and we had a bumper crop. We planted out the asparagus into its permanent bed, and fitted cupboards with worktops into the potting shed. Our biggest surprise of the year was the sheer quantity and variety of jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles and wine that we made - we need lots more empty jars and bottles for next year!

Month by Month

January - Although the snow eventually went, January was an exceptionally cold month and it had a bad effect on the stored potatoes. Surprisingly, some of the over-wintering peas and broad beans were coming through, which encouraged us to go and buy the seed potatoes, onions and shallots for the year.

February - The journal for February is a bit thin, but we did do some soil preparation along with sorting out the planting plan for the year. Most of the activity in the garden, as in January, was harvesting the over-wintering vegetables, but we planted the garlic and shallots, and set out the seed potatoes to chit.

Planting out the year-old asparagus

March - The garden was beginning to warm up again this month, and there was virtually no rain - the driest March for decades apparently. We started sowing the veg crops this month, and also finished harvesting most of the crops left over from last year. In an effort to produce healthier tomatoes, we sowed them earlier than last year and have put them on the sunniest windowsill in the house - time will tell whether this strategy works or not!

April - The sowing season is beginning in earnest, and also the first maintenance work of the year needs to be done, such as putting up supports for the peas as they grow. After a year of growing in their pots and surviving the cold winter, we planted out the asparagus in their permanent bed. The renovation of the potting shed is also progressing, and the weather is continuing to be dry and increasingly warm.

May - Lots more seed sowing and planting out, and at last some much needed rain fell early in the month. The new method of sowing brassica seeds in peat pots in the greenhouse failed - the seedlings shrivelled as they did last year in the open beds. More seeds were sown in plastic pots, in the house this time. In an effort to keep the aphids at bay, we sowed some more marigolds and calendulas in the greenhouse borders, and they did seem to work. Towards the end of the month we bought a lot of stuff from the Focus closing down sale to kit out the interior of the potting shed.

Raspberries on our lone self-seeded plant

June - There were some very hot days this month, and we were still battling the effects of the dry spring. Flowers on the new potatoes seemed to shrivel far too early, and even though we left the plants for a little longer before digging them up, the yield was quite poor. We started picking raspberries off the mystery plant, and continued fitting out the potting shed. We also discovered we had at least one wasps' nest in the veg plot and a whole load of asparagus beetles had taken residence too. On the plus side we had a good crop of lettuce, radishes, spinach and broad beans, and everything else was coming along nicely.

July - We started picking the tomatoes this month, much earlier than last year, so sowing the seed a month earlier has worked. Everything was progressing well, and we began harvesting a lot of the veg, turning some of it into chutney. The two wasps' nests in the veg plot made transplanting the leeks a bit awkward, but it was done without any mishaps. Refurbishment of the potting shed continued, and we had a strange problem with the pepper plants which we think was probably due to over-watering.

Crabapple jelly

August - There were lots and lots of vegetables ready for harvesting, so most of the time this month was taken up with making wine, jellies, jams, pickles and chutneys, as well as clearing, tidying and supporting as all the plants continued to get bigger.

September - Another very hot spell ended the month and there were no frosts at all, so all the veg, particularly the tomatoes, continued cropping in abundance. Again, the sweetcorn was very successful, and, while the yield wasn't as good this year, the main crop potatoes had no pest damage at all. Lots more preserve making continued this month, and we had a go at salting runner beans to see if the flavour will be better than when they've been frozen.

Some of the remaining frost sensitive vegetables - turnips, calabrese, spring onions, French beans, courgettes

October - The month started off very warm, so it was possible to finish off the installation of the cupboards in the potting shed. We had the first frost of the year in the middle of the month, and we decided to harvest all the frost sensitive veg rather than see whether they would survive the cold temperatures. This included everything in the greenhouse except for most of the herbs and the French marigolds. We took the Enviromesh nets off all the beds but left the frames up over the brassicas in case we need to put bird netting on later. Although the production of chutneys, pickles and wines had slowed down, we still made a few batches this month with the green tomatoes, celery and beetroot.

November - We pulled up the last of the summer vegetables this month and sowed the over-wintering peas and broad beans. Although we've managed to control the aphids on the brassicas, the kale has lost a lot of its leaves but hopefully they'll regrow. After cutting the asparagus down we filled the trench with compost, and noticed that the wasps have finally left the nests!

Overwintering broad beans

December - The weather was nowhere near as cold as it was this time last year, and the overwintering peas and broad beans are doing very well as a result. Apart from this, we're harvesting leeks, root crops (carrots, parsnips, swedes and beetroot) and are enjoying the cabbages too. With a view to next year's planting, we ended the year by working out our seed order. Happy New Year!

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