The heat is on in the garden and on the vegetable patch

Harvesting is in full swing now with produce coming off the Vegetable Patch at a rate of knots. I have Blackberries coming out of my ears and Runner Beans and Courgettes galore plus the first of the Carrots, the variety Carrot Eskimo that I am trying this year for the first time, have been pulled and they were delicious. The first crop of Peas from the Pea Bingo plants have been picked and eaten with the second sowing due to be ready in a week or two now; a third sowing will be made this week. I have also been able to harvest the first of the Buffalo Steak Tomatoes from the Greenhouse and they went down very well at a BBQ over the weekend. The Gigantomo aren't far behind and the first of those could be harvested by this weekend. The Tomato varieties I am growing outside on the veg patch following the disaster that was the Limoncito and Black Cherry seedlings failing on me are now Yellow Pear and Pink Brandywine and these are going well I am happy to report with the first flowers on the plants now. The Pink Brandywine tomato is a new one to me but in fact an heirloom cultivar of tomato from America, with large potato-leaved foliage and, I am informed as I have none yet, large pink beefsteak-shaped fruit. 

 

It has been a dry few weeks, and now very hot as well, and a fair few things on the veg patch seem ahead of schedule, for example the 'autumn raspberries' are already showing signs of ripening fruit and I expect to pick the first in the next day or two! With the weather so warm and dry watering is of course a priority, especially with veg such as Leeks that you do not want to dry out. One of the benefits of working from home as much as I do now I can pop the sprinkler on in the morning for an hour or so if required though I do still tend to stick to watering in the late evenings if possible as that is the best time. Feeding Thursday is a regular thing on my plot with all the pots getting a feed whilst being watered as well as the vegetables. I am getting through over a litre of liquid seaweed a week which gives you an idea of the size of the task, around an hour-and-a-half can be spent each Thursday evening wandering around the garden with the watering can. 

The White Border as I have rather grandiosely named one of the flower beds is really beginning to shine, the Lilies are yet the bloom, won't be long now, but the Chrysanthemum Silver Princess and Chrysanthemum Polar Star are in flower and looking great if I do say so myself. The Lavender in the opposite bed are flowering and covered in numerous Bee species everyday whilst the Miscanthus Indian Summer behind the Lavender is growing strongly and that bed is also looking well. Sadly the one failure in that bed has been the Cornus Sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire', Dogwood plants. I purchased these from Thompson & Morgan and was worried as soon as they arrived as they really didn't look well at all - all four plants have subsequently died. The bed is actually filing nicely with just the Lavender and Grasses but I may still add Dogwood at a later date, probably not purchased from Thompson & Morgan!

I have sown some Pak Choi seed in an old wheelbarrow I used to keep Alpine plants in for a bit of fun and hopefully a tasty crop in a few weeks time; the seeds germinated in just a few days and so far so good as they say. I am also planning to try sowing some in a trough later this year to then be kept in the Greenhouse over winter to see if I can prolong the season into November or even December; Pak Choi and leftover Turkey stir-fry on Boxing Day perhaps........

In hot dry weather your compost heap can struggle compost correctly, successful composting depends on a certain amount of moisture in the mix. It may sound crazy but watering the heap will help to ensure all of your garden waste continues to break down nicely. An overheated dry compost pile will likely kill many of the beneficial micro-organisms that help make the compost. I was once told contents should be moist like a wrung-out sponge. Whilst you are at it, don’t forget to turn-over the contents as well to keep it well mixed and aeriated.

Cheers 🍺