Lessons Learned – Year 1
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Local Weather:
Current conditions
Mostly cloudy
11°C
Forecast
saturday
saturday
Thundershowers
High: 15°C
Low: 8°C
Forecast
sunday
sunday
Cloudy
High: 15°C
Low: 9°C
Now’s the perfect time to reflect on how the year went on Plot 6A for 2011!
Things I could have done better!
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Pay attention to planting distances! If it says 18inches between plants it means it! When I put in my tiny Brussels sprout plants in, whatever it said to plant them apart seemed too far to me, so I ignored it. Big mistake! They are huge plants. Did the same for kale, purple sprouting broccoli and a wonderful vegetable I’ve discovered Kale “Cavolo Nero”. A beautiful looking vegetable, especially in winter when not a lot going on and tastes great. I’ve learnt my lesson first hand. Give plants space, they reward you better. -
Improve my labels. Didn’t always write a label as I thought I’d recognise the seedlings. Again I need to be more thorough. I also intend to record in my diary when I plant something so I can see how long it takes to grow. In addition think it would help to record the weather and conditions.
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MAKE A PLAN! Spend some time thinking about what you want to grow, how much and where you’re going to plant it. I’ve now done that for the year ahead, taking into consideration crop rotation, the quantities we need as a family and the experience I’ve gained. Why did I ever think we could eat two rows of runner beans!
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Improve the staking of my peas. Didn’t do that well enough. Twiggy branches I collected just weren’t strong enough to support peas. Need to give that some thought.
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It was a big mistake not putting in a central path and side paths on my plot. Already re-planned and starting to take care of that. Being able to reach your veg and weeding in between is so important to keep your plot looking good and to avoid damage to the plants.
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RESIST THE TEMPATION TO PLANT OUT TOO SOON. We had a particularly warm spell early last year and it was then followed by a wet period. I put squash plants out too early. I will hold back this year. My enthusiasm ran away with me a little, however I was lucky they did recover and produced an abundant crop.
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Control the weeds! An on-going battle. When I came back from a holiday, it looked like the weeds had taken over.
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Don’t have too many courgettes! You can’t eat that many!
Successes
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Tons of delicious veg!! Made pickles, chutneys and jams. Made loads of vegetarian meals that I hadn’t cooked before. Tried vegetables I hadn’t grown before. It was amazing. Tasted great and was on the table that night. Gave me a huge sense of achievement. As a family we eat so much more healthily and I knew where it had all came from. I hadn’t used any chemicals on my plot at all. Just nature.
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Being out in the open, digging, planting and enjoying the whole experience. A couple of evenings I was at plot quite late when it was starting to get dark . . . idyllic.
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Making friends, exchanging knowledge, learning all the time and the plots starting to become a community.
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Learning and gaining invaluable experience on growing on a larger scale. Having enough space to experiment with things I hadn’t grown before.
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My Zinnias! They were stunning! Just kept coming and coming and lasted ages in a vase. Colours were mixed and so beautiful. Going to grow more flowers this year. Sweet peas and hardy annuals. Not only will they attract bees but I want my plot to look beautiful.
I started in earnest before Xmas re-planning and digging over and clearing the weeds. I’m full of enthusiasm for the year ahead and what it’s going to bring. Going to try a few new things, be more organised, keep on top of everything and continue to enjoy it. I’ll regularly keep you posted on what I’m doing and how it is going. Plenty still to do. Make the most of this nice weather.