That Was Summer 2012, That Was (Part I)

Now that Autumn is well and truly here, it's time for a recap of Summer 2012.  Such as it was...I think it was officially the mankiest Summer since records began, or some such statistic.  However, in spite of much angst caused by the truly disgusting weather (who knew it was possible to get SAD in June?!), a plague of slugs of Biblical proportions and blight, we didn't do too badly.  It was our first proper year of gardening, and we enjoyed it and learnt a lot.

The Front Garden

The front garden worked well this year.  Alastair - who is a fantastic carpenter - had made the raised beds the previous year, or maybe even a couple of years ago, so they were quite well established.  I finally got round to gravelling the back half of the garden, and it looked brilliant.

The cold frame - which Alastair made, and did an absolutely beautiful job of - really came into its own this year.  Without it we wouldn't have been able to grow our own vegetables from seed (and our courgettes would either have died or had to stay in the house until they reached nearly full growth, the weather was so disgusting!).  It nurtured broad beans and cauliflowers, courgettes, tomatoes, basil, oregano and rosemary, and various flowers I grew from seed...even in the snow!

Clockwise from under the dining room window, we grew herbs - parsley, mint, thyme and chive were already established from previous years, and I grew basil, oregano and rosemary from seed (although they only grew to about an inch high due to the weather).  I'm not sure whether basil comes back, but I think oregano and rosemary do, so hopefully they will return in the Spring.  I'll just have to try again with the remaining basil seeds and cross my fingers for more sunshine!

The raspberries were new (after my beloved Autumn Bliss canes got blight and had to be pulled up) and they didn't fruit much.  Poor things were probably frozen to death.  I'm very happy that one Autumn Bliss survived the cull and is blight-free and producing beautiful raspberries as I write.  Porridge with raspberries and honey for breakfast tomorrow morning!

The strawberries loved all the rain.  We had a fantastic crop.  The slugs and woodlice enjoyed them too.  I never knew that woodlice enjoyed strawberries until I caught one in the act.

 

King Rhubarb was as splendid as ever, cropping right from Spring into late Summer.  I made stewed rhubarb, a delicious rhubarb and ginger strudel and a very nice rhubarb upside down cake.

I'm going to divide King Rhubarb in early Spring...Prince Regent Rhubarb?!

The blueberries cropped well also - they're good reliable croppers, and are currently looking very pretty with bright red Autumn foliage.  I gorged on summer fruits this Summer, and having my own blueberries was brilliant.

Our new apple trees flowered very prettily, but didn't fruit at all - hopefully next year.

We grew potatoes in a bag - not as easy as growing them in the ground.

Clematis montana was as beautiful and prolific as ever, and delighted me against a deep blue Spring sky.

I grew a few different types of bulbs in pots, with varying levels of success (I don't do very well with container gardening, as a rule), but I did have some pretty flowers.  The dahlias were the biggest fail ever (slug-snacks!).