Gill Meller the joys of summer

On the whole the growing season hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been exemplary either. It’s been steady, lets say. Take my courgettes for example. Last year I had 4 plants, and they produced more courgettes than I new what to do with (chutneys still going). This year I have 6 plants and they’re producing half the quantity. I can’t figure it out. That same unpredictability could be applied to everything I grow to some extent. Last year the beetroot were disastrous, this year they’re as big as apples, and plenty of them. Right now, I’m harvesting a colander of runner beans every few days, last year - it was a basketful!
In the end, I suppose there is know knowing, and gardening’s unpredictability is really its attraction. If we know what’s going to happen, all the time, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge. But in the same breath, if things never went our way, perhaps we’d get a bit tired of it.
Read Gill's full summer journal on our website - www.rhinogreenhouses.co.uk