Monday, June 28, 2010
Scorcher
It was indeed a scorching weekend here with over 30 deg. I worked in the garden on Saturday morning but by 10 am it was starting already to get a bit unbearable. Still, I was really pleased with the work I did. I finally did a bit of work on the herb border which was completely overgrown with 5 foot high parsley (yep!), rampant lemon balm and the bloody bramble have made another attempt. There was also bindweed crawling over everything. SO I ripped out all the nasties, chooped back the parsley and lemon balm, made some room around the sage, thyme and tarragon and it all looks much more civilised now.
The peas have now been chopped down and left to rot in place. I will slowly dig them back into the earth.
I watered everything copiously, the heat was terrific. And in some ways the plants appreciate some hot weather, as there are plenty of courgettes on the plants (got my first one! A Yellow Parador.) and the tomatoes have come on very well. I weeded and mulched the tomato bad and tied the now tall tomatoes to their stakes, pulling off a little excess vegetation here and there to give the flower trusses the best air exposure. There are a couple of wee tomatoes, and lots of flowers so I am looking forward to a terrific harvest again.
I also gave a few shovelfulls of rich compost to the squash, mulching it around them and watering heavily before covering the whole squash bed in thick straw. I also did the same to the aubergines and peppers. The peppers are getting their flower buds, bless 'em.
Sowing:
I sowed some more stuff to keep the garden going throughout the cooler months. sowed: radicchio, scarole lettuce, ordinary lettuce, and started sowing spring cabbage.
Harvesting: it starts to get interesting.
The last peas, strawberries, raspberries and even blackcurrants that I forgot I had as they have been swamped by the raspberries. The first courgette.
Picked a couple of shallots, they are going to be a bumper crop I think. Each bulb is at least 5 cm wide, a great size. I can't wait for the onions to be ready, they are all flopping over now with gusto.
Plans for the next week or two:
as often as possible, add more compost around the beans, which are in flower and even starting to make tiny baby beans.
plant out the pak choi and kale that are patiently growing in the coldframe.
weed round the rhubarb bed that is looking a bit straggly. The rhubarb got the rest of the manure that was sitting in a corner of the herb bed, as it has been a bit poorly this season.
keep harvesting early potatoes, bordeaux-mixture the lates and keep weeding and tidying. And hopefully start picking all that wonderful summer produce!!
The peas have now been chopped down and left to rot in place. I will slowly dig them back into the earth.
I watered everything copiously, the heat was terrific. And in some ways the plants appreciate some hot weather, as there are plenty of courgettes on the plants (got my first one! A Yellow Parador.) and the tomatoes have come on very well. I weeded and mulched the tomato bad and tied the now tall tomatoes to their stakes, pulling off a little excess vegetation here and there to give the flower trusses the best air exposure. There are a couple of wee tomatoes, and lots of flowers so I am looking forward to a terrific harvest again.
I also gave a few shovelfulls of rich compost to the squash, mulching it around them and watering heavily before covering the whole squash bed in thick straw. I also did the same to the aubergines and peppers. The peppers are getting their flower buds, bless 'em.
Sowing:
I sowed some more stuff to keep the garden going throughout the cooler months. sowed: radicchio, scarole lettuce, ordinary lettuce, and started sowing spring cabbage.
Harvesting: it starts to get interesting.
The last peas, strawberries, raspberries and even blackcurrants that I forgot I had as they have been swamped by the raspberries. The first courgette.
Picked a couple of shallots, they are going to be a bumper crop I think. Each bulb is at least 5 cm wide, a great size. I can't wait for the onions to be ready, they are all flopping over now with gusto.
Plans for the next week or two:
as often as possible, add more compost around the beans, which are in flower and even starting to make tiny baby beans.
plant out the pak choi and kale that are patiently growing in the coldframe.
weed round the rhubarb bed that is looking a bit straggly. The rhubarb got the rest of the manure that was sitting in a corner of the herb bed, as it has been a bit poorly this season.
keep harvesting early potatoes, bordeaux-mixture the lates and keep weeding and tidying. And hopefully start picking all that wonderful summer produce!!
Labels: beans, courgette, herbs, mulch, peas, peppers, squash, summer, tomatoes, weeds
# posted by antipodesgirl @ 2:22 PM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
