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Hi everyone
Last time we wrote we said that the garden and the farmers crops needed rain, well not any more! Since then we have had a complete weekend of torrential rain, enough for the whole month. We were then lulled into a false sense of security by getting two blistering days of sun which was absolutely fabulous, followed by three days of overcast weather but is comfortably warm.
The garden was looking great again after quickly recovering from the previous weekend and the forecast was more sun, we thought great we can go and relax in the garden. First thing Saturday morning were we woken up with a start by a raging thunderstorm directly overhead and you have guest it rain, rain and yet more rain. O well like the saying all the best plans Thank you God but the gardens have had enough water for now.
Rusty our dog has been his usual self during the good weather days but he certainly gets the hump on the wet days when he cannot get out in the garden. Wonder who he takes after?
Something quite alarming we have just found out recently is that a lot of children do not know what vegetables are! And where they come from. When you ask the question where do vegetables come from and get the answer of Tesco's it certainly is very worrying. Is this because the education system is failing them, or is that the parents no longer have vegetable gardens? Perhaps a good school trip would be to a local market - preferably a farm market, where they could see vegetables grown and actually handle them. We were both so amazed at this, and appreciate the fact that our children have always been able to pick their own fruit and vegetables from the garden, we believe they must be in the minority now.
Garden tips for this week. As usual you should have had that hoe out getting rid of weeds that would have come up in the garden. Any broken or damaged plants should be pruned and all leaves swept up and put on the compost heap, or in the green waste bin. You should also check your plants in pots to see if any need potting up. With all this rain it would be advisable to put fertilizer around your plants again to keep them well nourished, do not forget to keep feeding those tomatoes plants with a phostrogen based feed.
Your vegetable plot should be coming along now, and with a few minutes work every day keep in tip top condition. The strawberries are now in full swing and we have just picked the first raspberry. We always cage our strawberry plants well in the garden, so that we actually eat them and not the birds, but leave a couple of herb pots filled with strawberries on the patio that run the gauntlet, as we know the blackbirds are particularly partial to them.
The raspberry canes in the last few years have grown extremely tall so we no longer cover these, even though they are cut right down in the autumn. If we did not love raspberries so much we would not contemplate growing them as they propogate by runners, which pop up every where in the vegetable garden and flower border that we are always having to dig them out, they have even made it as far as the lawn! So now our friends and family have the same problem as we do, as we do not like to just throw away perfectly good plants.
Another good garden tip is to make sure you regularly set a few lettuce, radish, spring onion seeds and other quick growing salad plants, so that you have enough to eat fresh in succession, without plants being wasted and going to seed.
Lawns. Your lawns must be looking really lush now in your garden with the grass growing like 'Billyo' (a good old English word). At this time it is advisable to cut your grass twice a week if you can to keep them looking superb. If you had put weed and feed on your lawns early on in the season it would pay you to give them another dose now to keep your grass strong and weed free. Do not forget to change the height of your blades on your mowers to suit the weather conditions, in other words short grass in wet conditions and longer grass in dry conditions. Carry out these garden tips and like always your lawns will complement your garden.
Keep reading for garden tips.
Ted & Sandra