It was all about the weather

As I write this it is chucking it down as it has most of the year.
I have spent most of the year either squelching about in the mud or mouldering inside waterproofs.
We were lucky though as the driest month - October is when we took our only holiday of the year.
Gardening has taken a back seat this year to moving and starting new jobs.
Wincanton did not prove to be the best job I had - the biggest problem was the rabbits.There was a wire fence round the plot but it had great gaps all underneath which the owners would not accept  the rabbits could dig under.Even the mesh over the top was big enough to let blackbirds through so everything was at risk. The slugs were the worst I have ever seen and the damp weather made sure that the potatoes got blight. So not a happy place to work as all the blame was pointed to me.I found out later that the previous gardener had a gun and a terrier that he often used to leave in the vegetable garden all night.This and the fact that the rabbits had just recovered from a very long bout of mixamatosis had made my debut very difficult.The last straw was when they cut me down to one day a week for the rest of the winter until the middle of March.
Luckily I have found a new job at Stowell only a couple of miles away which will be all year round and will not interfere with Milborne Port or Mere which although affected by the rain still had a very good year.
As a Christmas present I got James Wong's book The Homegrown Revolution which names many plants that I did not realise were edible - such as the tubers of dahlias.This together with other delights such as tomatillos and goji berries will fit into our new garden well.It has given us a renewed enthusiasm which I think will get stronger when I start at Stowell.

 The first two pictures are at Milborne Port,then Mere and lastly our garden at the embrionic stage.



At Mere I planted thousands of tulips and narcissi which I am looking forward to seeing in the spring.This is essentially a large town garden, easy for me to keep to quite a high standard on one day a week especially as I go all the year round. Milborne Port is a stunning Manor - I look after the roses and the herbaceous borders for the wonderful owners who most weeks ply me with eggs and produce from the garden - the garlic from there this year was superb. I look forward to going there as everyone is so friendly.Dahlias did very well this year.I have grown from seed all the bedding plants for the pots and a huge quantity of delphiniums 'Pacific Giants' which will be going out this spring when I have cleared one of the borders.

I am really looking forward to 2013 ! Happy New Year.

I thought I had posted a blog here from my phone - back to the drawing board!

The excuse has been the weather

I know it has been a long time but apart from moaning about the weather not much has been happening. I have been busy its true, but it has been more of a steady grind than an enjoyable time.
The weather has been relentless but I suppose it has not been as disastrous as for some people in this area.Just once, when I was working at Rimpton was it a bit dodgy getting out of the village. The wet weather has meant more than too many slugs and not a brilliant harvest of anything really.
The very good news is that there are to be some changes for next year. I have finished at Wincanton which was too far to go and the relationship with the owners was not the best. They just would not accept that the rabbits were getting in everywhere and destroying everything - no a rabbit cannot get under a two inch gap under the fence and why would they eat all our vegetables when they have acres of lovely grass to eat! The trouble is the rabbits are just recovering from a prolonged bout of mixamatosis - for the last ten years they have been very little trouble but now they are back with a vengeance.They had already cut my hours and wanted me to do more next summer instead.
The really really good news is that I have replaced Wincanton with a job three days a week all the year round at Stowell a village just outside Sherborne about five minutes away.I beat off stern opposition to get this job and I am very much looking forward to starting.It is a formal garden very much like Brewham with loads of topiary which I have discovered I am good at. They have every new piece of machinery available and there is no penny pinching. I will be in charge and can get as much labour as I need so I think I will be looking for an apprentice.
My other jobs at Mere and Milborne Port will stay the same as I love going there and I would not let them down as they have been very good to me and they are lovely and challenging gardens.I will also fit in my less regular but still enjoyable jobs at Rimpton and Purse Caundle - maybe jobs for the apprentice eventually.
My last job at Wincanton was to prune all the old pear trees which were in a sorry state. At least my last job there was a good one as my memories are mostly of sloshing around in the mud and trying to keep the slugs away.

We have now gone into Christmas mode enjoying all the events in Sherborne.Yesterday the Town Band played carols as I was doing my Christmas shopping.It was a lovely day and I popped into the Digby Tap for a noggin on the way home.Today we are going to the French Market and hope to get lots of goodies for Christmas treats.I promise I will post again next week.