It's not all coming up roses!

Despite my success with parsnips, tomatoes and stump carrots this year every season has its disasters and you need to learn from these as much as you do your triumphs. This season’s undoubted disappointment has been my potatoes which I’ve always been quite strong with in the past. They got away well, initially the top growth looked very strong but within a few weeks the foliage started to go yellow and then died back entirely. I suspect it’s because I didn’t put enough feed in the bags (if I’m honest I didn’t put any in!!!) and thought I’d rely on the roots quickly getting through the bottoms and into the well rotted manure I’d put in the trenches beneath them. Alas, t’was a lesson learnt! Also, I used the same peat I’ve had for two years albeit I thoroughly sterilized it after last year’s blight problems. However, I’ve emptied out all the bags onto the garden borders and I’ll get new bags in for next season and make a fresh start. Also, I tried to grow 4 varieties this season (Kestrel/Winston/Nadine and Malin….I still have to harvest Malin…they were the only ones that carried on growing) but I’ll reduce that to 3 varieties next year as I simply haven’t got the room.

My caulis have also failed yet again. Despite applying insecticide at soil level after planting the majority were attacked within days and had to be pulled up, the roots having been eaten entirely by maggots of cabbage root fly. Next season I shall have one last try with the variety Clapton which is supposed to be clubroot resistant and I shall also invest in some collars to see if I cannot deter the root fly. If they fail again I shall just accept I cannot grow caulis and not bother again.

After initial good growth my celery succumbed to some strange rust like disease on the outer foliage. After I picked off the worst affected stalks they looked very spindly but a week has gone by now and they seem to be picking up. Hopefully, I’ll have a couple of heads to display at Sturton, but they’ll be nowhere near what I was hoping they would be.

My pot plants haven’t exactly run away this year either. I really do grow too much and at times I’m like one of those plate spinners trying to stop them crashing to the ground. Each year I keep saying I’ll cut back on the amount of different things I grow so next year……………..errrrr…….