I know I know. I’m probably a bit too self critical and I will put my hands up to that! However, looking back is actually a really helpful exercise that I rely on and I will tell you why.
It brings me up to date with the world and pinpoints exactly where I am in the year. It highlights where I have been spending too much time and where to focus my time elsewhere. It reminds me about forgotten plans – despite being super productive during isolation, a lot of it wasn’t really planned and I lost my focus a little, so it’s always good to bring myself back to what I wanted to achieve.
I started making a scrap book which basically works as my inspiration board. I don’t work on it every night or even every week – I just pick it up when I need reminding of what exactly I’m doing. It also allows to me take into account what I planned to grow, what I’m ACTUALLY growing and what I need to start off or plan.
Looking at my book, my front cover is my inspiration board for the year. My theme this year was just colour. I haven’t planned specific plants or flowers but I have chosen specific varieties due to their vibrancy, quirkiness and just because I thought they were fun. Every year is an experiment and sometimes its time to return to things you’ve failed growing in previous years.
Now my front cover has all the weird and wonderful tomatoes that I’m obsessed with every year. Those I have been growing since January so I am still praying to the tomato gods that they yield at least something for my efforts haha. The image that is really actually quite miffing me is actually courgettes. Every year they germinate no problemo. This year I have just one plant so far. Now it’s all good to stage your plants so you get a steady flow but I really do love home grown courgettes and I would be lost without them. I was debating not going to the plot when my husband comes home as it’s raining but now I really need to get down there and start again. I have been offered some space in a greenhouse so I’m going to keep trying until they work!! (I bet you now that I have about 18 plants and I’m giving them away in a month).
My carrots have been sown and I had some really cool purple haze carrots that had germinated and were happy. Got to the plot today and a cat had dug them up (I had them in a pot). So I will be on the hunt for more seeds later to fill the gaps. Not all hope is lost. I don’t pull my carrots all at the same time anyway so these will be sown about a month apart. Nothing too much to worry about there.
Surprisingly beans take up such a small percentage of my front cover. There should be way more beans on there as I forgot how obsessed I am with their flowers, their leaves, their lovely beans they produce. Yeah… beans rule.
Chilli plants are doing okay so I’m not too worried about them. Garlic has been in since October and doing well. Calendula have started to pop through and the marigolds desperately need potting on.
So a few jobs to do which have come out of writing this but that is the whole point. I am pretty happy with my progress this year so far – even with limited compost and I’m literally tied to a toddler 24/7 at the moment but it is all worth it.
I was delighted today to see the nasturtiums I’d planted direct had all popped through after some rain! I didn’t even care that Glynis saw me doing a victory dance from her plot. I may have even squealed a bit. I’ll leave that there for now…
