Ever thought of giving up on this lark?

[Millymollymandy]

My view is that if everything came good in the garden we wouldn't be able to eat it all or have the time to turn it into chutney/jam/bottle it/pickle it etc etc anyway. We all need some time out to sit and stare after all!

So as I can't make the jams I was planning to - well so what, I've still got lots from last year and even if I hadn't, I can buy some. We aren't going to starve!

[Stonehead]

And, I guess, people who can afford to have a computer can afford some veggies from the market or something and... well... at least we CAN source food when we want to.

How much do you think a 1993 Mac LC 475 is worth then? Even our 1997 Powerbook G3 would be lucky to pay for a couple of week's groceries.

Actually, in our case we have to live largely on what we grow. We can't afford to buy in replacement food if our crops fail too dramatically.

On the downside, this year we lost all the french beans (for drying and long-term storage), 90% of the peas, about a third of the onions, 90% of the cauliflowers, 70% of the broccoli (and the rest is bolting) and we have just one single courgette from all our squashes, marrows and pumpkins. We also lost all the orla potatos to blight. The jerusalem artichokes were decimated by rabbits, but we should still get a reasonable crop.

But the upside has been bucketloads of soft fruit, vast amounts of broad beans, kale and cabbage, reasonable carrots, oodles of lettuce, spinach and beets, and the blight resistant varities of potato are holding their own. The garlic is also doing well.

We'll scrape by as we plant well in excess of our needs to cater for all sorts of calamities - although we do get a bit fed up with kale and cabbage after a while (much as we love the stuff).

Weathering disasters is part and parcel of taking responsibility for supplying your own food - and they make for a good laugh in later years and better seasons!

[theabsinthefairy]

This has been our first year in all sorts of ways - including being self sufficient -ISH.

We have renovated our farmhouse in rural France to a livable state - no where near finished, but coming along. We are all learning a new language, our daughter is settling in here slowly. We are all having to make new friends and find our way around an unfamiliar landscape.

We have managed to get some crops in and some have survived the deluge - and we are grateful for what we have, as our attentions have been divided and so the veggies have not had as much care as they should have done.

However, leaving the weeds amongst the potatoes has given us the only blight free potato crop for miles, and tomatoes.

Chickens are laying, quail are a success, geese, ducks and guniea fowl are prospering, pigs are happy in the mud, and horse arrived a week ago, and even though she is soggy she is 'cutting' the grass so I don't have to.

Beetroots are like footballs so a few happy days of pickling and chutney making are in front of us, ideal in front of the warm rayburn when it's raining outside.

Generally - feeling good about it all.

[Thomzo]

Well there have been upsides to the weather this year. Weeds don't seem to have been as big a problem as in the past. It might be the chooks or it might have been the weather. I certainly haven't had nearly the number of aphids as I have in recent years and I've only occasionally had to water the pots. The water butts are full, as is the pond and the frogs and fish are healthy and happy. The cat's aren't infested with fleas and I haven't had to worry about sunburn.

Let's rejoice a summer without hosepipe bans and celebrate not needing the air conditioning on in the office (but not of course if you've been flooded).

Cheers
Zoe

[Moomintroll]

I think everyone including the farmers are having a bad year.

Hopefully things will improve.

Next year your produce may do better and maybe you'll laugh about this.

[Wombat]

Just wondered whether anyone out there has got to the point (and then hopefully beyond) where you wonder whether it's all worth it?

Not suicidal, you understand,

Anybody else have these dark days?

Suicidal works for me!

Nev

[ina]

Just wondered whether anyone out there has got to the point (and then hopefully beyond) where you wonder whether it's all worth it?

Not suicidal, you understand,

Anybody else have these dark days?

Suicidal works for me!

Nev

Been there, done that, survived it.

[Sharon]

Hi Ina

It's good to hear that you and the others have come through this and that you are surviving in good spirits.

I feel a bit bad about being so negative earlier but it's good to share experiences and get such positive responses (and it's nice everyone politely refrained from saying "just pull yourself together, old girl").

So, no fruit from the garden to bottle or make jam from this year - still, think it's going to be a bumper blackberry harvest and with a bit of luck, that footpath that goes through the orchards might yield a few windfalls.

There's plenty to be grateful for, that's for sure.

[the.fee.fairy]

Don't worry about it - most people have a time when they want to give up, or they just think that if they went to T*scos, everything would be ok.

Then...they go to said place, and realise that they'd rather be outside in the mud!!

Everyone has 'wobbles', and it always feels better when you share it with someone else.

[Sharon]

Thanks for that. Feeling much more positive today and it's got me chatting with you nice folk, which is great. Mmmm - I wonder if they are connected!

Couldn't get to the Co-op yesterday, and found ourselves in another large supermarket chain (the S one) instead. It was a soul-less experience. I get quite agitated with it all. Very happy to get back to our green beans, as you say.

[Wombat]

Just wondered whether anyone out there has got to the point (and then hopefully beyond) where you wonder whether it's all worth it?

Not suicidal, you understand,

Anybody else have these dark days?

Suicidal works for me!

Nev

Been there, done that, survived it.

Me too................so far......

[Millymollymandy]

Couldn't get to the Co-op yesterday, and found ourselves in another large supermarket chain (the S one) instead. It was a soul-less experience. I get quite agitated with it all. Very happy to get back to our green beans, as you say.

Hmm yes, when I think about it, out here in rural France the only time I feel like I'm in the rat race/urban jungle is in the supermarket, especially trying to deal with the breakneck speed of the checkout girls ...... Actually, Lidl is the worst. I just want to tell them to chill, but when I say go slower they look at me like I have two heads.

[Thomzo]

That's why I prefer my local Co-op. The checkout staff are friendly and chatty. They help you pack your bags and you can share a joke with them. Not like the big supermarkets where you are lucky if you can understand a word they say. It's a bit easier with the foreign staff, you have more chance understanding them than the spotty teenage locals.

[contadino]

My strategy for beating the several-failed-crop blues is to grow & store more than we need of everything. This years broad beans and peas were great, but tomatoes and aubergines have been a disaster. Our adversities have included a long drought, unprecedented high temperatures, and a mole in one of our veg patches.

I've also chosen to be a little more adventurous - for example, our first batch of courgettes failed, so I planted a second batch when all my neighbours said it was too late. The same applies to aubergines, peppers, and tomatoes. So far, they seem to be doing alright.

It's a lot easier to bear the failures when there's something in the cupboard though.

[Wombat]

It's a lot easier to bear the failures when there's something in the cupboard though.

Now there is a quotable quote!

Nev