So how was it for you? 2021? It was an odd year at the plot. Old winter crops left to flower into summer. Brassicas towering. Gastropods feasting. Almost a glimpse into a post-apocalyptic gardening world.
I grew to love the wild abandon. Grasses seeding, blowing in the wind (though we might come to regret some of this later). Flower beds left to live a fuller life. I couldn’t help but save some seed.
Howard and Rose grew a memorial plot to Rose’s grandmother. A shaded spot. Making a virtue out of austerity. Highlight for me there, the overwintered chicory flowering sky-blue deep into autumn.
We had height like never before. Self-seeding fennel largely left to its own devices, yellow heads dancing. Tall Verbena bonariensis, beloved by butterflies, from shoots on a neighbouring plot. Lasting into November, until torn to the ground by clambering nasturtiums, roped like mustangs. And what a year for nasturtiums. Feral in creams, oranges, rusts and reds.
Purest tagetes Ildkongen, too, refreshed with new stock from Signe (copenhagenseeds.dk). Sprawling scarlet bushes, tall and confident. Self-seeding amaranth (Hopi Red Dye) and orache spread and added extra height.
What about vegetables you might ask? Tear peas were disappointing. We may have to search for new stock, though as yet we will trial to see if it was the year, the strange season, or the seed. It was slightly the same story with climbing beans, though we will have to hunt for more Gold of Bacau. Howard has a plan.
There was chard, chervil, some parsley, too. But it was a year for flowers. For colour, for beauty. All largely left to go to seed. Most we saved for next summer. There are trays and paper bags and envelopes on shelves throughout the house. Full of hope for a brighter and better year.
As the year shudders to a stop, from Howard and Rose, Mary and me, wishing you all a happy, healthy 2022.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.49 from guardianbookshop.com
