Resolute and Ready for a New Year

As 2019 draws to a close and the longest night of the year is upon us, it's a good time to reflect on our successes and failures on the plot. Even the best gardener in the world with the best laid plans is still at the mercy of the weather and the plant viruses and fungal conditions that result, so we should never be discouraged when things don't go as we planned.

In fact the constant learning curve is one of my favourite things about gardening. It's joyfully unpredictable, and for every disappointing blighted potato there is a surprise self-seeded mystery plant or stunning flower that exceeds all your expectations.

This year's triumphs include:

• The fragrant blooms of phlox paniculata, which lasted a stunning 4 weeks in the vase (with periodic removal of the lower blooms as they faded).
• Charlotte potatoes, which did get blight, but as we removed the foliage and stems as soon as we noticed the condition, the tubers were largely unaffected, and we'll still be harvesting them for Christmas dinner!
• We got our first real crops of goosberry Xenia and Winham's Industry, and had massive harvests from all our other varieties - Hinnomaki Red, Hinnomaki Yellow, Invicta, and Black Velvet.

This year's learning experiences were:

• The slugs were rampant this year, eating many of our seeds and seedlings before they had a chance. Next year I'll be sowing more in modules and planting out once the plants are bigger so they are less attractive to the slimy little beasts.
• We grew lots of Florence Fennel and Kohl Rabi... and then discovered that we don't really enjoy eating them! We'll still grow them next year, but perhaps not as many, and we'll make more of an effort to find recipes for them that we can enjoy.
• A fairly cool and windy summer was not kind to our strawberries in hanging baskets on our wind-swept plot. Next year we're going to try other crops in the hanging baskets and create a lovely, rich bed for our strawberries.

WATCH THIS VIDEO OF OUR ALLOTMENT IN 2019