Most of this months pictures were the result of one weekend’s endeavours.

A two pronged assault during a sunny break in the middle of the month proved to be an excellent opportunity for pulling the plot together.

Weeds were pulled, beans were planted and my resident constructionist re-built last years rather poorly looking greenhouse. The plot looks like a growing environment once again!

Here’s an almost wordless month in pictures update. I’m so far behind that I’m cramming 3 months into one mosaic and as I didn’t seem to make it to the plot much in those first 3 months, there isn’t a lot to say.

Life dried off a little for December and I managed to get down to the plot quite a few times.

The grotty dark nights resulted in a couple of torchlit digging sessions but I also found myself shamed into a day of weeding after passing by on the train and noticing the big blocks off lush green weeds where the onions were supposed to be thriving.

The chard is still dazzling passers by with its jazzy, party coloured, stems. I think the pink is particularly fetching but the orange doesn’t seem to withstand the frost as well as the other shades.

There’s been quite a lot of frost already which has probably sweetened up my swedes and done wonders for the brussels. The bracing wind doesn’t have a lot going for it though, it has shredded my polythene greenhouse and although I’ve patched it up and folded it away in the shed, I don’t hold out much hope for it lasting another season. I hope Wilkinsons survive the economic downturn at least until the summer, so that I can buy another one.

The wind also lifted a big patch of felt off my shed roof but fortunately Lynn is a roofer par excellence and shimmied up on top and sorted the job out with style. Given the number of nails used, there is not a chance that it will be shifting again, it’ll stand up to hurricane Katrina should it need to.

October and November were such washout months that I hardly got to the plot at all. When I did go down, the place seemed just a little too grim for photography and so here I am, left with a tiny handful of snaps with which to rustle up a double ”month in pictures” montage.

The winter roots were a success and I did manage to get a few bean and flower seeds to dry off enough for storage before the deluge came and never went.

It was a bit of a struggle to find enough for photos for Septembers month in pictures. What a wash out it’s been. I’ve hardly made it to the plot at all this month.

I’ve started saving a few seeds and amazingly some of them have even dried out enough for storing. In the specimen jars I have poppy, blue mist, foxglove and sweet peas. The first two self seeded everywhere and almost all plot holders would call these weeds but I love them and can’t bring myself to yank them up when they blossom in the middle of my semi-pristine rows.

It’ll look like Flanders next year.

Despite the grotty wet weather, August still flourished and I spent almost all of my gardening time harvesting crops. Can’t complain about that but it does mean I failed to sow any overwintering crops, hopefully September sown spring cabbages will still be productive.

Blight inevitably struck towards the middle of the month so I pulled up all the spuds up and kept my fingers crossed for the health of the greenhouse tomatoes.

With the major crops out, and the blight spreading across the outdoor tomatoes the plot began to look a bit tatty towards the end of the month. Shame really but I suppose that’s the way with gardening, its time to start looking forward to the view of freshly turned soil.

Blimey, July is a busy month.

I’ve been on the plot almost every day and yet don’t seem to have done anything constructive. The time is taken up by watering and picking crops (not that I’m complaining), with precious little time for making any last minute sowings.

I haven’t had much time for blogging recently so there are a few new photos in the montage.

The greenhouse has worked wonders and I’m now pulling out bucket loads of the most delicious tomatoes, a handful of chillies each week and the promise of some juicy aubergines.

Outside the courgettes have just, in the final days of July, started to put on a little growth spurt and I’m reassured that there will soon be a glut. The cabbages are so tasty but my labeling discipline has been slack and I don’t know what variety they are. The runner beans are cropping so well now that the bean construction is threatening to collapse and I’m delighted to announce the appearance of two micro-caullis.

So June has been and gone and I can’t believe I managed to miss the summer solstice. I was pleased to discover while putting together this months – Month in Pictures, that I was at least on the plot on the 21st – sowing more carrots. If the summer solstice is also known as midsummers day, that would also suggest that I missed the whole of the first half of summer, I’ve been assuming we were still in spring – when does summer actually start?

June was a good month on the food front, the broad beans were finished with but were replaced at the end of the month by runner and borlotta beans. Spuds were worth digging up from the 2nd week, although I’d probably have got some earlier if I’d taken some anti slug measures.

Seeds germinated at break neck speed this month, it’s worth remembering next year that I shouldn’t stress too much about getting all my plants in early – they soon catch up.

I’m already planning next years seed order, I suppose it’s a bit too early to send the order off but I’ve made my choices of squash, pea, bean and tomato seeds from the Real Seed company. I’m going more exotic next year and avoiding some of the poor choices from this year.

I’m not bothering with Feltham First next year, they may over winter well and crop early but they are gross. In fact I am wiping all smooth peas off the drawing board – only wrinklies will enter my seed box from now on. I think I could manage 3 rows of broad beans as well, I’ll stagger two sowings of Aquadulce and then try something different for a late spring sowing.