Garden View B & B Gardening Blog

7 March 2010

The 2009/2010 season is drawing to a close with cooler nights signaling the imminent arrival of Autumn.  The signs are already here with the beginning of leaf colour change and loss of leaves from our deciduous trees.  We have been busy since the beginning of the year reaping the benefits of our fruits, nuts and vegetables.  Preserving when fresh is the name of the game.  Bottling fruit, freezing vegetables and making delicious jams, relishes, chutneys and sauces provides much for our guests to look forward to during the winter months.

This last growing season hasn’t been anywhere near as favourable as the previous one.  After an early spring start to growth, late frosts caused some damage and then January was so lacking in heat units for the growth of our corn, tomatoes and peppers.  Growth picked up in February and we are now enjoying lovely sweet corn and tomatoes with our guests.  As planned, we planted a wide range of potato varieties but have not had the usual high yields as in other years.  A large poplar tree next to the garden has finally got the better of us with its roots invading the whole of the potato patch.  Unfortunately, its days are numbered.  ‘Osprey’ is our favourite variety of potato because of its flavour and versatility for both mashing and baking.  A new purple-coloured variety, high in anti-oxidants, is proving to be a real winner.

Today, we start deep-freezing the sweet corn.  We will blanch the cobs in boiling water and remove the kernels.  During the winter, our guests can look forward to delicious corn fritters for breakfast.