Hello Everyone,

Despite it being the mildest November since records began, winter has arrived in Pembrokeshire, with 50mph winds, continuous rain and short dreary days. In fact over the last week we have had enough rain to fill the forty gallon water butt from the gutters of the greenhouses. The glass was rattling so loudly in the greenhouses on Sunday 15^th that I felt a teeny bit scared to be in them. However, I had to go in and try to salvage my plants.

I am still getting amazing spinach leaves, and aubergines but the pepper is now producing bitter green fruits. I am not sure if I should dig it up or allow it to overwinter. Next year a pepper plant will go to the more sunnier side of the greenhouse.

In the little greenhouse a slug managed to get in and eat a good lot of my new salad leaves, as well as destroying the Pansy, Laurentia and most of the Yarrow seedling. The slug did leave the broccoli, cauliflower and radishes alone, so I was pretty lucky there. I found the critter in the Californian Poppy plugs looking very fat and satisfied. I put him on the bird table; I have no idea if it escaped the house sparrows at feeding time.

Unfortunately, the slug problem was not the only disaster to hit my crops, the higher than expected temperatures (it was 16 degrees Celsius one night) and strong winds have meant that I cannot vent the little greenhouse as well as I wanted too as it’s just too dangerous – which in turn has meant that I have now got a good case of what appears to be green slimy damp-off in some of the pots. I am not altogether convinced it’s down to the weather though, when I checked the ( Garden Centre ) compost ingredients I noticed that its moss based, so it appears to want to go back to its original form. The compost appears to hold the water in the top half inch whilst the lower pot seems to be bone dry. This happened in the summer also. I always sieve my compost before planting small seeds, and have done so for many years, as I find the seeds germinate better in a fine tilth. If I water from the top of the pots the water runs straight through the soil, if I water from the bottom it seems to help, but I can’t have the plants sitting in trays of cold water in the winter as it may freeze the roots if the temperatures drop. As a result I have lost my radish, the kniphofias some tomatoes and some broccoli and cabbage. The frustration is immense. Especially as we had just dug the fertiliser into the bigger greenhouse to grow our winter & spring veg. I will definitely be buying some Incredibloom® next year, and will dig the rest of the old bought compost into the flower borders. I am looking forward to the 2016 sunflower competition, and if you fancy winning a big cash prize click on the T&M community link and read all about it on the website. Also think about pre-ordering Cosmos at its going to be flower of the year next year. I have my seeds already, courtesy of a magazine last summer that I forgot to grow.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, I am on week thirteen of carrot growing, I don’t seem to have any slugs in the borders. The shoulders of the carrots seem to be raising themselves out of the soil, so I am thinking I can harvest them next weekend. The Begonias are still in leaf and the spiky cacti are a lovely shade of green. The pots of Tulips and other spring bulbs that I planted at the start of the month had to be moved outside as the bulbs shot up and if left in there they would probably be in flower by December. The Christmas cactus inside the house is starting to flower; I will bring the two in from the greenhouse in the week so they can start to bud. In the large greenhouse I have the Aloe Vera’s and the money plant which appear to be thriving.

At this point in the season I really have to weigh up what to do now, as it’s impossible for me to get in the greenhouses after work as its too dark. I don’t want to say, I should just cut my losses dig everything up and wait until the spring, as I would have nothing to write about and there may be some plant survivors that can be transplanted on early next year. However, I don’t want to waste time, money or seeds trying to persevere with plants that probably won’t survive the winter in an unheated greenhouse. What this month has taught me though, is that no two gardening years are ever the same. I have noted in my diary that the best plants for me to grow in the greenhouses from September onwards will be lots of lovely carrots onions and spinach. I will be trying parsnips next year, and possibly buy in some late veg plug plants that I can grow own. I think I left it too late into the season to attempt overwintering vegetable seedlings.

I haven’t included many photos in my blog from the greenhouse this month as I didn’t think you wanted to see photos of aubergines and beet again, and I didn’t think you wanted a photo of a fat slug on slimy green compost.  If you want to look at some amazing pictures, I would say take a look at the T&M competition winners snaps, they are amazing. However, I have included a photo of my proud mum (Anna) who won the Johnston in Bloom Small Front Garden competition.

Next month will be the last update for this year in my Year in the Greenhouse story. I really can’t believe how quick this year has gone. I hope you will join me in December.

Until then,

Happy Gardening, Love

Amanda.

Amanda Davies

My name is Amanda and I live in Pembrokeshire with my fiancé and our garden is approximately 116 meters square. I want to share with you my love for gardening and the reasons behind it, from the good to the bad and ugly. I want to do this for my own personal pleasure. If you would like to take the journey with me then please read my blogs and share with me your gardening stories.