Summer Gardening

Two words come to mind about our garden this summer that’s rain and slugs. As always we plant extra knowing that they are going to have a feast and we still have backup but not this year. We planted even more lettuce this year but it has disappeared with a slimy trail going away in a line from the leafless stems.

Not all is bad though the sun has just broke out and the plants are getting bigger the first courgette flower has just appeared so excitement is in the air. The potato plants are now monstrous taking up quite a space with a beautiful green canopy dotted with small white flowers. The tomatoes are standing tall and proud and smell divine.

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After the large attack on the fruit and vegetables with all the wet weather we are re-planting and sowing seeds directly to replenish the beds. The best way we find to keep on top of the slugs is to do morning and evening inspections around stones, logs and near and under the leaves of your plants. In our garden no pellets are used as we believe they have a negative impact on the local surroundings including insects and small animals as well as soil dwelling fungi.

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Keep on sowing is the key idea just pump out as many plants as possible and try the same varieties in different parts of the garden in small patches. We have found this to be beneficial as plants show preference for location so by giving them options you shall see how they like to grow. The beetroot, chard and spinach are finally starting to take off and are really growing now and developing rich colouring.

The flowers are doing well this year surprisingly and there has been lots of bees visiting which is great all round as they feed on the nectar rich flowers and pollinate our fruit trees, bushes and vegetables. The parsnips are growing nicely alongside the new gooseberry bushes, onions, radishes and leeks.

It really is fun to watch a juvenile leek develop from a plant as thin as a pin to a big strapping plant, if you are growing leeks it is a good idea to sacrifice one of the big ones to let it flower.

They grow very tall when they flower and produce hundreds of seeds so when they flower they disperse many seeds that will next year self sow and grow into a patch of leeks and you can do the same again next year and never be without them again.