Freshwinds Garden Review 2025 Part 2

 As I begin part 2, it strikes me that the review itself could have any number of themes. It could be colour. It could be flowers. It could be food production.

But here it is .... somewhat random, according to the photos I liked really.

The loose theme here is management. From July onwards it is a frenzy of watering, planting, harvesting, protecting, managing pests, damage control, weeding, chatting to visitors. Not a great deal of time to make changes. So if changes aren`t done in the first half of the year, they`re not going to get done.

July 

By this time, the polytunnel was not looking good. Cucumbers were being eaten, aubergines were very poorly, even the tomatoes weren`t as good as usual. The daytime/ night time fluctuation temperatures were crazy. On top of that we had torrential rain with flooding. We felt despondent on more than one occasion.

The little apple tree was doing well.

 

Harvesting was well under way.

The fernery looked great, mainly in the shade.

We had a  delightful fairy and dinosaur day. The money we raised went to MND.

 August

In August the cobshed needed a good tidy after unsupervised children decided to create fairy gardens inside. They were quite creative I have to say. Maybe there should have been a before picture here.

The excessive weight of fruit on the trees in the orchard was causing problems. We had to cut off branches of crabapples as they were bowed to the ground. It was heart-breaking. But we managed to prop some up.

But even more of a wrench was having to discard the unripe plums due to a cracked branch. The plum tree had a drastic pruning. Oh the waste.

The pears were great.
 

September

In September I saw the first frog in the pond. Where did they go this year? We dug out the compost heaps and some had to be renewed due to rotten pallets. 

Anne invited us to pick walnuts in the grove. That was a first for us and delightful. The nuts are delicious. 

Harvesting continued. Sunflowers loved the heat.

 

The entrance was a picture in itself.

 

October

In October Tim created the dead hedge for us on an area outside the garden. It was perfect timing. I began on the barn path but haven`t done any more since.

Anne`s dahlias made a very late start and we have no idea why. Elsewhere round the garden they were quite normal.

 

November

In November I began making the willow rings. 

We continued to cut back the dahlias, covering them with fern fronds, carpet and old fencing panels.

December

I was making more willow rings. We continued to work on the compost heaps. But more work is still needed.

We trimmed quite a few trees hanging over the fence.

Unfortunately the tiny apple tree was attacked by rabbits. The orchard gate was left open.

We had another great wreath making workshop in Valley View yurt.

And baby Donald attended for the first time.
 

All in all not a bad year but one of unusual weather and timings. We have enjoyed it all and look forward to new beginnings in 2026.

Thank you to all those who read my blog and I wish you all a very happy new year.