Well this is rapidly turning in to the year of no projects but I’m dipping my toe in the water of stuff to get done!
Crafting is pretty much at a complete standstill. We are mid kitchen renovation at the moment and it hasn’t gone all that well so far. We seem to be uncovering one problem after another at the moment, but I’m hopeful we’re finally at the end of the uncovering and we’re starting the ‘putting it right’ phase. Between stress, constant dust , and cramming all of our kitchen/dining room into the rest of the house in the meantime, crafting just feels too much effort at the moment. I have however, bought a box of fibre from Fellview Fibres with a manuscript theme which I am really looking forward to getting down to once this is all done.
While things are in such disarray I do at least have the time to make some plans so as we start hurtling towards spring I’m working on garden plans for this year and getting my seeds in order. It’s a bit difficult at the moment to get out in the garden as we can’t go over the kitchen floor yet, but maybe next week! In the meantime I’ve been thinking about 2022 and what worked well and what didn’t. Definite wins were:
- The new polytunnel. This really made a difference to fruiting veg like chillies, tomatoes and cucumbers.
- Shallots. These work really well for us, make the most of a small bed, and pickle brilliantly.
- Potatoes in pots/bags. Although not super prolific, the use of bags really helped to extend the space available for growing and it was easy to succession sow to avoid too much of a glut at the same time.
The things that didn’t work so well last year:
- Squash/courgettes. No idea what happened, I usually can’t move for courgettes. It want just me with this issue so maybe the unusual heatwave was too much at the wrong time, or perhaps my watering wasn’t enough.
- Basil struggled despite being really successful the previous year. Again I’m not sure if this was a water issue during the heatwave.
- Peas in pots. I thought these would be a definite win so I was a bit disappointed at how much they struggled.
All in all I think 2022 was pretty successful. I’m now working on planting plans for 2023. Some of the projects I wanted to work on will probably be sidelined now due to the kitchen overrun, but I’ve still got a good number of beds to work with.
That’s it for my update. Hopefully it won’t be so long next time!
Ceulan Fibres 
Good luck getting to the upside portion of your renovations. I have met no one who has felt such things were easy, went according to plan or schedule – myself included! Excited to follow along with your garden plans. We definitely had some wins (tomato and pepper plants) and some not-wins last year (potatoes and peas).
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Thank you! It’s going to be so much better when it’s done, but it’s definitely been a voyage of discovery. I do want to document more of the garden this year.
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I feel your pain with the kitchen, that was us 12 months ago. Hopefully you’ll love it when finished. I’ve picked which seeds but nights are still too cold to get started yet. I think it was the wind that affected my courgette plants last year, when they were small they kept getting battered and I did lose my squash and one courgette to wind.
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Yes I’m sure it will look great once we have more than walls and a roof (I don’t think we can claim a floor until later today). Some years getting my seedlings started is so easy and others it’s more of a challenge. Fingers crossed for this year!
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Good luck on your gardening. We aren’t gardeners. My husband refuses to weed and after many unsuccessful attempts to raise vegetables, I refuse to do more work than picking it up at the grocery. Hence the only “gardening” we do are cherry tomatoes that basically are weeds and a few pots of herbs.
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Cherry tomatoes are the best thing to grow. They’re also something I struggle with so well done! I have an on/off love of gardening. I love cooking though so I think I’m more seduced by the idea of harvesting veggies for the dinner than I am with actual gardening. It’s why I’m rubbish at flowers; why waste time on something that can’t be eaten 😂
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