Alex’s Ramblings June 2019

Apologies for my absence last month: as for an excuse, I’ll quote former Prime Minister Harold MacMillan ”events dear boy, events.” One of those events involved spending time on The Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides where it was so cold and bleak, I wondered how anything could possibly grow there. It makes one realise how fortunate we are to live where we enjoy a much more benign climate.

On the subject of weather, it is noticeable how much warmer it has become, although as I write this, we are subject to a reduction in temperatures due to the Jet Stream being in an unfavourable position. Rainfall has been below average but we are promised a significant downpour tomorrow which should give the garden a good soak and top up my water butts, not to mention my fish pond.

Progress in the vegetable garden has been good. In the greenhouse I have twenty nine tomato plants of three varieties: Sungold, Sweet Million and Golden Sunrise. We should be eating tomatoes in around ten days time. These will go nicely with my cucumbers which have already started producing. The remainder of the space is taken up with peppers and chillies.

Last year, I told you of how I was trialling potting up side shoots removed from leaf axils of tomatoes which would enable a longer growing season and also save on the cost of seed which for F1 varieties, can be quite expensive. Results achieved were just as good as plants sown from seed hence, I’m repeating the exercise this year. As for the outdoor crops everything seems to be doing quite nicely. Successional sowings have been made of beetroot, cabbage, sweet corn, mange tout, lettuce and French and runner beans to ensure as long a productive season as possible. Kale, cabbage and Brussels are all under protective netting and I have just noticed that my broad beans have an infestation of black fly which I shall remove by blasting them off with the hose pipe. From now on in the vegetable garden, it will be case of using the hoe to keep weed infestations down and ensuring adequate watering.

In the ornamental garden, everything seems to be moving on nicely. Roses are in their first flush of blooming and have benefited from their second administration of feed. From now on, it will be a case of dead heading to ensure a continuous production of flowers which will hopefully produce nice specimens for the Flower Show. Sweet peas have been attached to canes and will be regularly fed at intervals of ten days with the same aim in mind. Gaos have been filled with annuals.

The lawns have still not recovered from last year’s drought and I have used a weed and feed mixture on them, just having completed the second application and they are showing signs of improvement. It’s going to be a long job and no doubt, due to climate change, it looks as though it will be a continuous struggle to keep all lawns in the same condition as we have previously enjoyed. As you may have surmised, I’m not a fan of watering lawns.

Although not here for the plant sale, I’m told it was quite successful and trust that you may have acquired something to fill in gaps in your garden or even to grow on to enter into the Flower Show which this year, is to be held a week earlier than normal, on August 3!st. The show is a great day out for all the family with classes for all ages. As a Society, we try to encourage entries from the school and we ask you attempt to get all of your children and grandchildren interested in growing plants of all sorts. The younger they start the more likely they are to develop a lifelong interest.  This year, our grandchildren have been actively engaged in sowing vegetables at home and here in our garden, have planted sweet peas and as a bit of fun, a giant pumpkin. Look out for a large entry in the show!

 

Good gardening!

 

Alex