Don't Lose The Plot: July 2016

1. If you have any veggies which have become overripe and unusable they may be prone to infestation by insects etc or become diseased, remove them from the vicinity of your other crops as soon as possible.

2. Add a couple of tablespoonsful of Epsom salts to your watering cans when watering plants to keep the magnesium & sulphate levels up.

3. Sow green manures into any areas of vacant ground that need nutritional improvement.

4. Keep hoeing around those still growing crops to keep weeds at bay, otherwise they will compete with your veggies for water & nutrients.

5. I very rarely thin out my carrots, take care not to damage their leaves/roots if you do, or the smell from damage/breakages may attract the dreaded carrot flies.

6. Don't forget to pinch out the growing tips from your runner beans and pick the beans regularly to promote more to grow.

7. Think about "companion planting" for next season maybe, if you have had any problems with diseases/insect damage/infestations this year.

8. August can easily be the warmest month of the year so don't skimp on watering your crops. Watering early mornings or late evenings to ensure less evaporation of the water. A good soaking around crops is better than frequent light sprinklings of water.

9. Watch out for signs of late blight on tomatoes/potato plants. Remove any infected plants and burn or bag and bin them, don't add them to a compost heap.

10.

SOWING/PLANTING IN AUGUST

1. Sow the following this month: Spring Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Kohl-rabi, Lettuce (Winter hardy), Spring Onions, Radish, Spinach and Turnips.
2. Plant out Savoys, Cauliflowers and Kale.

OTHER JOBS IN AUGUST

1. Keep weeding & hoeing.
2. If you are storing potatoes for later use, ensure any damaged ones are used, not stored.
3. Pinch out side shoots on tomatoes, leaving 4 or 5 trusses on each plant in general.
4. Turn your compost heap and spray with water if it is very dry.
5. Compost & manure heaps are attractive places for wasps to build their nests, so be wary when disturbing the heaps.

Well here goes with my first blog post since April. No excuses for not blogging really, except for the fact that if I was being paid for the gardening and D.I.Y. work over the past twelve months I'd be able to retire and live off the interest from the payments. Come to think of it, I am retired, well there's a surprise.

Since moving house, last October I have made infrequent visits to my plot. Due to the naff weather early this year and most of my gardening efforts being carried out in my back garden, down my plot the majority of the sowing/planting was late and not as prolific as previous years. The only crops I have growing this year are, garden peas, carrots, lettuce, runner beans, french climbing beans, onions and cucumbers. The peas should be ready for picking this coming week. The French climbing beans still need supports putting in place for them to cling to and are nowhere near maturity. The mixed lettuce has already been harvested several times so far this year but will be going to seed soon, hopefully I will have the time to sow more this coming week. Due to the very hot dry/muggy conditions here for many weeks now, the cucumbers are developing slowly but the plants themselves are still in good condition. I would describe the past few months' weather as definitely sub-tropical without the accompanying downpours of rain. Runner beans are below par this year with my onions looking pretty good so far. The 2 rows of carrots sown on No 2 bed have about a month or so to go before they are fully developed. As for the already established crops, rhubarb has been excellent, currants and gooseberries are prolific and tasty. Asparagus was also good and very early this season. My fruit trees and grape vines have produced no fruit this year, possibly due to the fact that they were pruned back late last year. My strawberry patches produced some good specimens over a 2 month period in May & June.

Kickboards Added To The Central Walkway Flower Border (right) Planted Out

As for the work on my back garden taking priority, the finished product is just about starting to come together. One of the 3 lawns has had most of the weeds and oodles of moss removed from it. Although the grass looks patchy where the moss used to be, some re-seeding should improve things. 2 more lawns will be de-weeded and re-seeded at a later date. Concrete edging has been added to most of the borders and path edges. Work has started on re-laying the old concrete slabs of the patio running the length of the bungalow. 3 weeks were taken up removing a shrub and its roots from underneath 20 foot by 20 foot of these slabs at the west end of the patio recently. I don't know the name of the shrub, (should have checked) but digging out the roots during muggy weather down to a depth of 2 foot, then re-filling the hole won't be attempted again, especially considering the slabs are the "old fashioned" 2 inch thick concrete type, rather than the lightweight more modern ones. Not to mention the oodles of builders rubble which was removed from under this part of the patio Paths have been constructed all around the perimeter of the garden, across the centre under the wooden walkway and centrally from the walkway to the back fence, past the recently constructed compost bin and log store. The pathways have been finished with 20mm blue welsh slate. 2 grapevines were planted some time ago adjacent to the 2 walkway supports at the eastern end of the garden. One of the vines already has already produced 3 bunches of grapes. The old garden bench and seats I was using down my plots have been cleaned, re-sanded, given several coats of fresh paint and positioned at various locations around the garden paths. Kickboards have now been added to the base of the walkway support posts to keep back various border soil and all the woodwork around the fences and walkway have had protective plastic/polythene tacked to them where they come into contact with any soil. Sieved soil, compost and horse manure mixed together has been added to the flower bed between the central stone wall (running east to west) and walkway, and a variety of flowers and shrubs planted out, along its length. 3 "main" jobs are now left to attempt or complete. Work on creating my vegetable bed began a couple of days ago in the "top right hand" western end of the garden. Concrete "half" slabs are being sunk into the ground around the edges of the bed which is currently overgrown with mainly grass. This area of the garden has so far been used as a dumping ground for soil, turf and rocks removed from other parts of the garden. Once the half slabs are in place a picket fence will be constructed from old pallets and attached to the outside of the slabs, hopefully keeping out any marauding animals. Once the area has been cleared of turf, rocks and other debris it will have compost or manure added to it, which will then be rotavated in. The final major project will be to dig out and construct a 4 metre by 3 metre fishpond adjacent to the patio, opposite the kitchen window.