The general theme of 2023 seems to be that I can have good things, but I can’t have any control over them, this is very clear on the plot. Before I launch into talking about the plot, I do take comfort from the knowledge that it’s not just me, people with more time and bigger and more productive gardens have off years too and I needed the encouragement today to accept that you have to give up control sometimes…

So the plot is wild and beautiful and time off last week helped a bit but I need to be more consistent, to get it back to tidy but not too tidy.

I did start to clear up at the sides and the back though. Weeding and planting out some of the comfrey and thymes that have been languishing on the tables at the back of the plot.

I also cleared the carrot bed and planted the cabbages out. I have kale, brussels sprouts and cauliflowers that need to be in the ground this week too and tidied up the sides those beds and put thymes around the other plants. I also took out the last of the potatoes and I had several summer squash plants that needed planting or throwing out so I stuck them in that bed with the spare tomato that was already in there!

More weeding and tidying happened on Friday and also planted out the very waterlogged beetroot plugs but the mint bath, there’s a self seeded chard there and if they grow great it’s a bonus crop and if they don’t, at least we tried!

I started to tie up the tomatoes and weed around the beds because the paths are full of borage and verbena (and weeds), and I have two beds done and two more to do but I do (finally) have ripening tomatoes. These tomatoes have been barely tended, watered mostly by the rain and not fed at all! So I’m surprised to have anything but hopeful that in a week or two, I’ll eat some tomatoes!

I’m spending an hour or so a day at the plot this week, to work on the tidying up of the tomatoes and the side paths and getting all the comfrey and other plants into the ground.

Ma came down on Friday and planted up all the tiny garlic bulbs that won’t produce garlic this year but might the year after, she also plotted up the pansy plugs that will go in for winter. I also have some violas coming for the same purpose, and I need to sow chard, beetroot, lettuce, turnips, swede and herbs for autumn into winter.

In the polytunnel, we have cukes and melons on the way but poor pollination because I haven’t been opening the poly as much as I should because the weather has been so bad, it’s starting to warm up a bit now so more daily visits to open and close should help.

The peppers are another matter though as I have only had one (a jalapeno) that hasn’t been munched but the bloody slugs. I haven’t used slug killer in about six years, and I still won’t outside of the polytunnel but today I did in the poly because I’d like one pepper this year!

The raspberries are starting to happen too and this weekend, we picked over 2 kgs of french beans, the summer squash is slow but we’ve had some and the straightneck, which isn’t being early or prolific is starting to produce female flowers so we’ll have some soon. I fed them yesterday to see if that would help.

It’s not as productive as it has been but there is food and it’s really pretty, which I can live with…