Has it really been almost a year?

It's hard to believe I haven't posted for so long. The rain rain and more rain of last summer meant long absences from the garden until again I started to question was it all worth it. Did get a decent harvest of a few things though - the peas, which were done before the onslaught of water from the sky, were steady in their abundance for a month or so, the courgettes did OK, though finished early, waterlogged, beans were less prolific than usual, but still worth the effort, though they finished early too. And I grew spagetti squash for the first time : )
Mini corn cobs did well but the bigger variety didn't finish growing before the storms came in and all other squashes, butternut and pumkin failed after a promising start - they stopped growing but the giant snails and slugs didn't!
Oh yes, lettuce and tomatoes did well and at last I managed to grow an outdoor cucumber and a few parsnips, a couple of which are still in the ground. Also got some swiss chard still coming up and only recently pulled out the last of the turnips which turned out to be an easy and fast growing crop.
So fast forward back to the present; I've spent a couple of hours each day preparing the ground for this year - digging in manure, weeding and generally turning the earth over. It's great to have that outdoor time back again! Today the first of the planting - shallots and garlic sets. I'm holding back the onions for another couple of weeks, and starting to think about sowing toms and lettuces. Oh and the peas won't be far away either.