Heatwave, Losses & a Mid-Season Reset in My Kitchen Garden | UK Small Scale Food Self-Sufficiency

This has been a challenging growing season and we are only in June! We went from cool and wet, to blisteringly hot, to chilly again, and then the Met Office issued red alerts, with temperatures so extreme they described them as presenting a danger to life. If you are trying to grow your own food, a season like this is going to be a real test. And it has been a test of the systems and skills I have built up over time, because self sufficiency at any scale isn't just about having the right seeds or the right soil. It is about being flexible and responding to conditions as they actually are, not what they say in any gardening book. In this video I walk you around the greenhouse and the garden to take stock of where we are. The greenhouse has been at least six degrees warmer than outside, which has been wonderful for the chillis but devastating for the cucumbers. I share what I did: shade cloth, solar powered fans, adjusted watering, and what made the difference. Outside it is a more mixed picture. Some plants have been lost, some have just about held on, and some have thrived without any trouble at all. The Black Butte blackberry in particular has made me rethink how I choose what I grow outside in the garden and why. I also take you into the kitchen to show you the sprouting method I have been using to get a mid season reset underway as fast as possible. Tomatoes, mange tout, melons, cucumbers and courgettes, all started from scratch using nothing but cotton wool pads, water, seed compost and vermiculite. Started on the 23rd of June and already well underway by the 27th of June. This is what growing food and becoming self sufficient actually looks like. Not every season goes to plan. But you reset, you begin again, and you grow from there. If you have had a difficult season too, leave me a comment. I would love to know how you are managing it! 🌱 Subscribe and we can grow through it together. Music by Epidemic Sound Website: www.smallgardenbigplot.com #growyourownuk #homepreserving #smallgardenbigplot #selfsufficiencyuk #kitchengardenuk