A Garden In Progress

We've been living here in the uplands of Cumbria for about 18 months now, and we've learned, though a disastrous previous year, how much the rainfall and wind effects, and checks, plant growth. Last year was distastrous for gardening and farming in much of Britain, so we certainly weren't on our own. Observing which crops survived last year, through the most difficult of conditions, has definitely influenced planting this year. Potatoes, which we planted pretty much straight out onto the fells behind the house, did really well, particularly the earlies. After that, the lack of sunlight and levels of rainfall effected the yields quite significantly, though we did still manage a few small crops in pots. Garlic and onions also did well, as did greens that we protected in a small greenhouse - but greens outside of containers were devastated by slugs and struggled in the waterlogged soil. Broad beans and mangetout (also known as snow or sugar peas) cropped about a month late, but we did get a small harvest from the container grown plants. We began a small field garden last year also, which pretty much completely flooded, and all of the plants except for a few potatoes in the highest rows of the garden were lost.

So this year, we're sticking with what we've learned - we've expanded the container garden, planting garlic, potatoes, strawberries, mangetout, broad beans (both dwarf and standard varieties), yarrow, mint, chives, nasturtiums and jerusalum artichokes (last year these died from too much damp and extreme winds, so this year I dug up the tubers and planted them in pots - and they've grown beautifully!) We also have plenty of greens on the go including mizuna, mibuna, garlic mustard, rocket and various lettuces. They can now be better protected from the wind, and moved into the sun when necessary.  

We're going to try again with the field garden, but with a few changes - we've chosen to plant only at the top of the garden, as it is on a slight slope, and we've raised up the soil level in the beds also. We've planted early potatoes, onions, beetroot, a few carrots to see how they'll fare in our quite heavy clay soil, spring onions, and nasturtiums, both for the ground cover they'll hopefully provide, and for their peppery young leaves and delicious flowerheads. We've collected dried bracken stalks from the surrounding fells to use as a mulch.

We had let the field garden go completely wild through the winter as we didn't think we'd be using it again. Of course, it became filled with Curled or Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus), Stinging or Common Nettles (Urtica dioica) and various grasses. I've left the docks and nettles pretty much alone, only pulling up those which were in the spaces where I wanted to make beds. I've found that docks around the edges of the garden are a wonderful buffer against the insistent winds - I'm using them in the same way I would a shrub-layer, for protection of the young plants. And in the areas where I've pulled them the soil is now crumbly and beautiful, compared to the sticky clay of last year. Their deep roots have vastly aerated and improved the soil. The young leaves are edible and have a tart, lemony taste, bitter for some - due to oxalic acid - so caution should be used when consuming them.  

Stinging nettles are an important food source and habitat for the caterpillars of many butterflies and moths, and the young tops are delicious as a steamed, wild green. Both Curled Dock and Nettle are valuable medicines. I'll be posting more on both plants soon.

Curled Dock and Nettles surrounding the potato beds.

Potatoes & Onions plus Beetroot under bracken mulch