The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: sabrina on September 18, 2010, 09:41:14 am
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My garden has been wrecked this week with all the wind and rain, I still had green beans and broad beans to pick but it does not look as if many have survived. The pollytunnel is still in one piece and the things in there are ok but I feel a bit down hearted at all the work I have put in over the summer to lose things. Even the brussel sprouts look battered. maybe I will have to change what I grow and go for more salad type stuff if we are going to get so much wet and windy weather in future years. :(
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Hi Sabrina. Don't be disheartened - there are things you can do about it, at least for next year. Where we are it's always windy, so we have to grow crops such as runner and climbing french beans, which hate the wind, inside our tunnel - fortunately we have a big one ! I have learnt to stake crops such as broad beans individually, and all brassicas which otherwise fall over. I get sturdy canes in bulk from LBS and am growing willow and hazel to provide more sustainable stakes. You can also grow dwarf varieties of some crops but I find I still have to stake them. I assume each year that we will have wind, rain and hail storms, late spring frosts and early autumn frosts, blight, mildew, the sheep getting in and eating everything etc etc - that way when I have a success I am happily surprised ;D The great thing about gardening is that there's always next year when we can try again 8)
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If This is a problem yearly try different crops in different places and trial them to see
what works well in differnet climates and places?? :chook:
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same here with apples, I was so proud - first year with a good lot on them and after the storm >:( half of them on the ground , nothing we can do with trees :&>
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I too grow french beans, broad beans, all cucurbits and toms, peppers aubergines (I have two mini ones ripening this year - after four years of trying and not getting any!!!!) in the tunnel, too windy here (no hedges planted yet - we started with a field...). Scottish Borders, about 350 ft up but very exposed!
I got a big tunnel because I suspected that I might have to grow a lot more things than normal in the tunnel, and have not regretted it (still some space to "dry" hay/cut grass for the goats to munch instead of VERY expensive bought-in hay).
But despite probably not having many tomatoes (late frost and now already getting cold), I am sooo chuffed with my wee aubergines.... every year some things grow great and some things fail.... come December I usually sit down and go through my diary and look at notes from the year so can decide what to change/keep the same/not do again.
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same here with apples, I was so proud - first year with a good lot on them and after the storm >:( half of them on the ground , nothing we can do with trees :&>
I have two tiny pear trees ... which had just one pear each ( after a poor spring)
both have blown off, unripe in this blustery weather and ended up as pig-food.
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Back to wind and rain and Monday it was -3decrees so not much chance of my tomatoes getting ripe now. I was getting very worried as my winter straw was still lying in the field waiting to be baled. Lucky David the farmer got it done over the weekend. Ponies have been inside at night as there was a lot of flooding in the paddocks. Going to be a long winter. :(