Shivering on the Plot

 

The weather has been a little tricky this year in the garden. The vegetable plot got off to a late start with frost persisting into May. It was mid-June before we began to detect any real warmth in the weather. Before we knew it, and despite a lack of sustained sunshine, drought conditions persisted and by August a hose-pipe ban was instated which, despite now weeks of wet conditions, I understand was finally lifted this week.

Of most concern to me, however, is the rapidity with which we have suddenly moved from constant rain or drizzle to cold temperatures. Fair weather gardener that I am, I've been avoiding a soaking by seeking out activities more pleasurable than undertaking an autumn clear up. Obviously this means that now we have limited hours of daylight, grey skies and damp miserable conditions, I've been crawling around in the mud planting bulbs and clearing dead foliage.  What did I say in my last blog entry about letting go of anything that doesn't spark joy?

Except there is something uncannily invigorating about getting cold fingers, toes and nose by striving in the big outdoors or more precisely on my modestly sized vegetable plot. To be honest, and I'm blaming the weather for this, gardening in 2022 was hardly a success despite an abundance of apples and plums. Vegetables that grow above ground survived only because of my constant watering and they cropped very late, although bountifully when they did so compared to the meagre return from the root crops.

It's hard to think about plans for next year when the weather is so unpredictable. I find nurturing my own produce fulfilling and a reasonable excuse for the pottering that retirement is supposed to be synonymous with. On the other hand another year like this and I could very easily find myself tempted to turn those sunken vegetable beds into a rose garden. There must be plenty of pottering associated with dead-heading.

Of course, I'm not giving up that easily but it is a lesson in the fickleness of nature and our inability to control it despite best efforts. Without laying astro-turf or concrete whilst patronising the greengrocer's is there actually a fool-proof and easy way to maintain a garden in retirement? How do I avoid breaking both my back and spirit? Is this the stage of retirement when you give up and move into a flat?