In The Garden – July and August

Sowing
In July and August I will keep on sowing lettuces and salad leaves as in June. They don’t like really hot weather so if it does heat up it’s probably a good idea to not sow for a couple of weeks. I have also sown some ruby chard as I’ve found that this keeps on growing all winter and provides a nice green vegetable right through to spring. In August I will sow some winter cabbages and they should be big enough to plant out in September. By the middle of August you can sow some spinach again (it also doesn’t like too much heat) to keep you going through the autumn.

Growing
Most things are coming along nicely. My runner beans are climbing well up the wigwams, my courgettes have been a bit slow but I’ve fed them with a seaweed based organic food and sprinkled garlic granules around them to discourage slugs and snails. (I found a frog in a pair of wellies left out in the garden for a week which I was glad to see despite the mini heart attack when it hopped out! It should be eating the slugs for me). If you’re growing runner beans you should keep watering them well if it hasn’t rained for a couple of days.

By August you should see a good growth on sweetcorn, and squash/pumpkins. The runner beans will be ready and peas will be finishing off. In the greenhouse the aubergines, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes will be ripening. Keep feeding with a seaweed based food on a regular basis.

My pear tree has fruit on it for the first time and they do seem to be growing, fingers crossed. The blueberry bushes are coming along well and looks like there will be a decent crop. Remember to keep watering, with rain water.

If you haven’t already got a water butt you should invest in one. Rain water is naturally better for fruit and vegetables and collecting in a water butt is an environmentally friendly option.

Harvesting
Now (end of July) I am harvesting daily. The shallots and potatoes (I planted Charlottes this year) are ready and we are digging them up as and when required. The peas and beans are ready daily so I tend to collect them every 2 or 3 days to ensure a reasonable amount.

We are eating salad regularly and I’m keen to avoid the lettuces bolting. The tomatoes and cucumbers will start to ripen in August and be ready to harvest.

I have picked large amounts of raspberries and blackcurrants over the last week. I am collecting them in the freezer for jam making. I love raspberry and blackberry jam so will wait until the blackberries are ready in September.

I have 2 globe artichoke plants which each produce 2 or 3 fruits each year. I am going out to pick one this afternoon. The whole family love this, especially the children. To prepare, cut the stalk quite near the bottom of the artichoke and boil the whole thing in water with the juice of a lemon (this stops it going black) until you can easily pull out one of the leaves, this can take 30-40 minutes. Once boiled, let it cool for 10 minutes and prepare your dips. Melted butter, vinaigrette dressing or mayonnaise are good. To eat, pull off the leaves, dip the end in the butter etc and using your teeth scrape off the small nugget at the end of the leaf. This is messy and fun! Once all the leaves have been scraped you get to the hairy choke. Scrape this away and you will find the heart of the artichoke which is delicious. Globe artichokes are easy to grow from seed (more on this in Feb) and it can be hard to find them in Fife (although I got some great ones from the continental market in Kirkcaldy in May).

In The Garden – June

Sowing
June is the month to keep on sowing lettuces and salad leaves for a continuous supply. The cut-and-come-again salad leaves are great, you can pick as much or as little as you like and let the rest keep growing. You can buy seed packets with mixed leaves in the garden centre. I have planted a spicy mix this year. Rocket and spinach can be sown like this too and both are good in salads. Spring onions can also be sown this month as they are relatively quick to grow.

For a quick salad ingredient, why not try radishes. The will be big enough to eat in around 6 weeks. Try succession sowing – sow a few every week to keep you supplied throughout the growing season. You can also put in some beetroot seeds at the start of June. As temperatures are a bit warmer (hopefully!) they should germinate quickly.

Growing
The start of June is the time to plant out the more tender vegetables such as courgettes, pumpkins and sweetcorn.

Courgettes and pumpkins are ‘greedy feeders’ so when planting you should incorporate plenty of home compost, well rotted manure or you can buy bags of farmyard manure from the garden centre. I usually dig a hole and mix in my compost then put in the plant. I create a saucer shaped dip around the plant to help with watering and then mulch it. Mulch can be many things: shredded newspaper, cocoa shells, grass clippings. I discovered something this year called ’strulch’ which is a straw based product (from www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) that so far seems to be very effective at preventing weeds . Mulch also helps to retain water in plants and courgettes and pumpkins need plenty of water to develop.

Sweetcorn should be planted in a block formation rather than in rows to encourage pollination. I have had success with mini corn but am still experimenting to find a bigger variety that will grow well outdoors.

While on the topic of pollination I always plant some flowers in beside my courgettes and pumpkins. This is to help encourage the pollinating insects. I usually use cornflowers, convolvulus, poached egg plants and marigolds (marigolds are also good companions to tomatoes and help to deter predators). It also looks good!

I was watching Gardener’s World last week (Fridays, 8pm BBC2) and saw Joe Swift planting fennel in with his brassicas (broccoli and cauliflower) to prevent the moths from laying eggs. I always have problem with the cabbage moths and caterpillars and end up with naked stalks on the broccoli so I think I’ll give this a go and see what happens. If you haven’t already put out your broccoli and summer cauliflowers then now is the time to do so.

Also with French beans and peas, if you haven’t planted them out then go for it! I’ve put nasturtiums in with my climbing beans this year and am hoping this will help with pollination. Should look great climbing up the wooden wigwams.

Harvesting
The beginning of June is full of anticipation I always think as I can see the potential harvest in the garden but there’s not an awful lot ready!

If you are lucky enough to have asparagus in your garden, you’ll be harvesting the last of it at the start of June. Make sure you leave some spears to grow into ferns to revitalise the crowns for next year. I watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall do interesting stuff with asparagus last week (Wednesdays, 9pm Channel 4) – see this months recipes.

I have a lot of herbs in full flower (chives, thyme, savoury, rosemary, oregano) and have sorrel, lovage, chard, Good King Henry and the beginnings of salad leaves. My wild rocket has over-wintered beautifully and is delicious (not as strong as cultivated rocket). The rhubarb is just about finished but I have a few big stalks left.

Below are images of (clockwise from top left) wild rocket, chives, ruby chard and Good King Henry.