I always intend to make the most of all the summer days and nights; I expect to wander through the tunnels and growing beds then sit in the garden watching our barn owl with a glass of something. Does this ever happen? Only occasionally. The summer days are chaotic to say the least. This one in particular, with the extreme heat and no rain, has had us chasing our tails watering and tending.
However, I must say the crops still have managed to be fruitful, providing beautiful and tasty produce. As we now enter the autumn season we prepare to store and preserve the abundance of beetroots, turnips, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, aubergines and courgettes, not to mention all the soft fruits. So, from the chaos of tending during the summer we now have the chaos of finding places to store and the time to preserve all the produce!
We also have to consider planting out more cabbages, kales, cauliflowers and calabrese while tending existing crops for the coming winter season such as sprouts, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, swede and celeriac. The greenhouse is now full of seedlings for overwintering, from pak choi and spinach, to rocket lettuces and mustards. The chaos is subsiding slightly as it becomes less of a strain having to consider watering; and there is less need to tend the summer fruiting crops, with brassicas, roots and leaves needing less attention too. We are now able to pat ourselves on the back as we realise that another summer season was coped with and autumn can be enjoyed at a slower pace.
As gardeners we are always thinking ahead; sitting down in the garden with a glass of something will probably never be on the cards!
Ann Paton and her husband Bob run their own farm and are recreating a walled garden at Freyja in the Tyne Valley. For more from Ann, visit www.hexhamshireorganics.co.uk/blogs/anns-journal
