The end of another year, our 12th at the allotment, since Mary kindly took us in, gave us a garden home, a place to grow in exchange for humping sacks and building bits and bobs.
It was a good year for broad beans, with two sowings (early Aquadulce, later Witkiem) both steamed or eaten straight from the pod. Their tops were a spring gardening treat dressed with olive oil. I left it late for early potatoes, missing the RHS spring fair, though they cropped well enough. Basque tears peas as always, were enjoyed young then left to seed. Later, I trained morning glory up the pea poles, an astonishing blue-mauve catching the morning light. We loved them and will be growing them again in 2020.
It was a good summer for tagetes, with two, tall heavy hedges. But saving seed was challenging as October was warm and wet. Calendula worked well as always, but I will likely rest the yellow and revert to a pure orange single-petal if I can find a good source.
Carrots were another new sowing, though I don’t know if I’ll repeat them. Sweet peas, as always, came from Fern Verrow’s Jane Scotter, started in her greenhouse and transplanted at the plot – a gorgeous flecked purple, the pick of the bunches.
I am less ruthless now about clearing space; less committed to constant new crops. I will stick with self-seeding red orache and amaranth, and I may move the sunflowers to the edges while they’re small, as they throw a lot of shade.
I will still sow too densely, too soon and too late. It is a joy when it works. French beans were perfect, coriander, too. This year’s shiso was less successful. All in all, 2019 was glorious, for which I am thankful.
I am slightly itching to start over soon. It won’t be too long now. Will it? Happy New Year.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.49 from guardianbookshop.com
