On the positive side… Every morning for the last week I have had enough strawberries for a bowl with yoghurt for breakfast. The peas are doing quite well and I tried the first pod today – a bit small but very sweet and lovely. The first tomatoes are set (only on the few plants I bought in in case the seeds didn’t grow – but the seed grown ones are in flower now). We have many spring onions and too much salad (R does not like it). I’ve had quite a lot of ‘snowball’ type turnips which are great peeled and eaten like an apple – only the inside ones survived though – something ate the ones which I put out in the veg patch. Also lots of herbs and it is great picking them in handfuls just like Jamie Oliver. The first courgettes are just coming through as well along with the squashes – and if they all grow we will have lots. Outside the stuff is doing less well but the potatoes look ok as do the onions. I wasn’t expecting much from the gooseberries and currants I planted this year – but I will have a few handfuls at least.

On the negative… My beans had lots of flowers but don’t seem to be making any pods. Perhaps they didn’t get pollinated in the tunnel but it is odd if that is the reason because the peas right next to them seem fine. Outside did not go well at all early on – none of the sprouting broccoli made it and the turnips and sprouts have only had a few survivors. But the stuff I planted in May has done much better – I suspect at least partially because the slugs had other things to eat by then.

So lots and lots of lessons learned for next year – the two biggest being a) don’t start too early – it is a waste of time and effort, and b) don’t plant more than you can easily take on – a lot of my stuff has suffered every time I have had a big test and been too busy to devote TLC to them.

Also – self-sufficiency is a long way off for us – I’ve put major effort in and we have been nothing like self-sustaining in anything so far – except perhaps herbs. Next year I need to put better consideration in what to grow and be a bit more selective. Also if I worked out how much the veg we have had cost per pound it would be the most expensive I have ever eaten – we could have bought it all from Harrods and had it delivered for the money it has cost us

Some of my germinating seeds are coming on well too.  Stupidly when I laid out the pots I muddled some of them up – so now I don’t know which is which of courgettes and pumpkin – plus I have three mystery plants which may be basil and may be peppers.  I suppose I will find out later on (as the Bible says – ‘by their fruits you shall know them’).

I’ve also nearly finished section 2 of the vegetable garden – and I have enough stones for a large rockery.

Although the weather was ok all day – we went to Glasgow in the afternoon and came back about 10pm.  By the time we got to Arrochar the snow was coming on thickly and approaching the Rest and be Thankful the visibility and road surface were very poor.  We slowly made our way over the top of the Hell’s Glen pass and home, but it was a bit dicey at times and we were certainly thankful for having a Land Rover.  No idea what the weather will have done to the new plantings, but this would not be a good time for it to turn very cold.

The idea is currently to use the greenhouse for tomatoes and other ‘always indoors’ (well – always indoors in Scotland – lol) crops, and the polytunnel to get other things up and going early for later transfer outside.  So I have made four large raised beds on the ground and filled them with good topsoil and homemade compost.  The benches to either side I am filling with large pots – ideally I would have liked to get rid of the benches – but they are made of metal (I’m sure expensive) and it would be a major operation getting them out.

I am also in the process of creating an outdoor vegetable plot for things we eat lots of (potatoes, leeks, onions etc.) – though whether we will need deer fencing to keep off the ravening hoards is something I don’t know yet. 

Actually, wanting to grow our own food has nothing to do with finances, as my guess is that certainly this year and possibly permanently it will cost a great deal more to grow this stuff than it would be to buy it, especially if you take my time doing it into consideration. What it has got everything to do with however is personally doing away with one of my biggest annoyances which is to do with Supermarkets (well food shops generally) and out of season imports from far away places.

It’s not that I am an eco crank but it seems madness to me that in a time of increasing pressure on the world’s energy resources that so much food should need to be imported into the UK from such unlikely countries of origin.  For example, I was going to buy some spring onions recently until I noticed that they came from Peru.  And every herb in our local supermarket comes from Israel when it doesn’t come from Kenya or somewhere equally unlikely.  I don’t mind this too much when it is things like coffee and bananas that don’t grow here and realistically speaking- can’t.  But I draw the line at spring onions from Peru I am afraid. So I didn’t buy them.

Growing our own vegetables I will have nice fresh stuff when it is in season, and out of season we are going to try to do without.