I miss my plot!

On Saturday I spent most of the day digging, my favourite activity as you will know, and it reminded me how much I miss my plot now that the days are short.

I have run out of rotation space, so I will have to reuse beds from a couple of seasons ago for my garlic. Unless I pull all of the beans, which are still cropping, and reuse the beds. Or maybe I will have to do both. Advice from anyone?

The grapes were a fantastic success, much more than expected, and I will take advantage of my recent learning about cuttings to extend my "vineyard". Figs, on the contrary, have been so disappointing, as they do not seem to ripen - any of them.

Manure was delivered: I covered it with plastic sheeting as I read that it is best spread in early spring, lest the nutrients wash out during winter. I got a full load as last year I gave it a miss, and checked with the farmer that no chemicals were used in the foodchain of the horses: I was really worried about contamination by Aminopyralid. It should be fine, and apparently 3 months composting are enough to purify manure for organic use - can't remember the source, but it was reputable.

I find it still difficult to plan in crops of green manure...

My chillies are still growing away under tents and in the greenhouse, but I am afraid I won't be self sufficient on those: one of my objectives gone, despite all the space I devoted to chilli plants. Garlic could be enough if I use it sparingly... I have bought more for this year, and very expensive it was!

I must say the slogan "grow your own to get cheap veg" does not seem to be working for me - definitely not. Did I mention before? It's good for all other sorts of reasons except the return on investment. At least so far. But it is true that I have gone into it big time, probably more than most would. And I should go back to measuring and evaluating my crops more precisely: not very diligent, this year, Mrs Cecconi!

On the feel of it I would say my best veg crop this year has been cucumbers, tasty and of impressive size. Fruit-wise, definitely raspberries: they are still cropping but mould very quickly if not picked.

Overall, I would say I had more variety than in previous years but in smaller quantities. Have to do better!

But I will not be able to go now until next week :(

-- Post From My iPhone (sorry for the funny words, the automatic spellcheck is a nightmare!)