Favourite Plants – August

Just an edible plant for this month, but one that can be used in hanging baskets and containers to provide a decorative feature. One of our favourite plants at this time of year is the tomato.  The picture below taken at Harlow Carr Garden shows a tumbling tomato in a hanging basket.

Tomatoes in a Hanging Basket

Tomatoes in a Hanging Basket

By August the months spent sowing seeds, pricking out and potting on seedlings, keeping an anxious eye out for late frosts or a wet July that might trigger serious blight should all be behind us. The fruits should now be swelling and ripening. The taste of tomatoes warm and fresh from the vine is so much better than from even the best of greengrocers or supermarkets that we’ve given up buying tomatoes out of season. Fortunately, roast tomatoes or tomato sauce or a ratatouille all freeze superbly allowing you to eat your own produce all year round.

We recommend growing from seed simply because of the vast range of cultivars that can be grown, with a myriad of colours, sizes and shapes of fruit available. If you have a few too many seedlings simply give them away and allow friends, family and neighbours to share the fun.

A Bowl of Tomatoes in Early August

A Bowl of Tomatoes in Early August

Tomato plants are often a first venture into food growing. Following a few simple steps should yield success. Most tomatoes are grown as cordons, meaning that the aim is to cultivate a single strong stem.  The flower, and therefore fruit, trusses develop straight off this stem.

Fruit Truss coming directly from the Main Stem

Fruit Truss coming directly from the Main Stem

In the axils between leaves and the stem, secondary shoots grow; and these should be removed (pinched out) so that the plant’s energies are focused on the central stem and the fruit forming off it.  When the side shoots are as small as the one pictured below it is fairly clear that they should be removed.  However as they grow they will start to bear flowers and it can be tempting to leave these as it will mean “more tomatoes”.  However, the dilution of energy will mean lower quality tomatoes on both the main stem and the side shoot and the restricted air flow around the more congested plant makes disease more likely.

Side Shoot for Pinching Out

Side Shoot for Pinching Out

Some tomatoes are grown as bushes, often called “tumblers”, they do not need pinching out and can look spectacular in hanging baskets and containers. All tomatoes require regular, although not heavy, watering. If you avoid letting compost dry out, then you will probably be safe from the problems associated with irregular watering, such as Blossom End Rot.

Blossom End Rot

Blossom End Rot

These tomatoes are still usable, simply cut off the affected end.

A weekly feed once the fruit start to swell will help you get a big crop, but if you are growing in open ground then once a month is plenty.

 

Garden Tips – August 2020

Unlike shrub roses, rambling roses only flower once in a season, so now that they have finished, prune them back to tidy up the framework (some ramblers are extremely vigorous and will soon get out of hand if not cared for). Some ramblers have beautiful hips, so let these develop for autumn colour and wildlife food.

Late August is a good time to trim evergreen hedges. Birds should have finished nesting and growth will start to slow down as the days shorten, so you may not need to do it again this year.

Now that the soil is nice and warm, it is the perfect time to apply nematodes for Vine Weevil control. Notched edges to leaves are a sure sign of vine weevils, so treat now to get rid of the grubs that are living underground or in your pots and containers. Another pest to look out for at this time of year is Rosemary beetle.

Prune restricted forms of apples and pears such as cordons, fans and espaliers. Clear out long upright growth to leave compact fruiting spurs and to allow light in to the ripening fruit.

Pear Fan Aug 2020

Pear Fan Aug 2020

If we have a wet and humid period, then watch out for blight on potatoes. If there is an outbreak, cut back and burn foliage and then later on lift the tubers, inspect them carefully and only store sound ones.

Harvest and enjoy summer fruits and vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, soft squashes, beans and Sweetcorn will all be at their peak.

Tomatoes 5 Aug 2018

Tomatoes 5 Aug 2018

A colourful harvest

A colourful harvest

The joy of allotments – Eating

Our last post celebrated growth in the allotment, but this one gets down to why we grow in the first place – to eat.  As the season goes on the nature of harvests (and thus dinner) changes. In the early summer we have fresh and young crops epitomised by asparagus, early potatoes and mange tout.

Harvest 21 June

Harvest 21 June

From here on in our fridge will have a rolling selection of salads, such as the potato, green and roast vegetable salads shown below.

Salads 20 June

Salads 20 June

as the summer progresses, hotter weather crops start to come through such as tomatoes and strawberries.

Tomatoes 19 July

Tomatoes 19 July

Strawberries 11 July

Strawberries 11 July

The first cabbages start to appear meaning that there will be a regular flow of slaws being prepared.  Sometimes the classic coleslaw with orange carrots, but also others made with different coloured beetroots and purple carrots, dressed with olive oil rather than mayonnaise.

Veg 11 July

Veg 11 July

With courgettes, tomatoes and the first sweet peppers all arriving now, treats such as the kebabs below can form the centrepiece of a meal.

Veg Kebabs July 2020

Veg Kebabs July 2020

 

 

New Garden Update 10

The garden has been a “happy place” this spring and early summer.  Somewhere where we can enjoy colours, scents and the promise of harvests and chat (at distance) to the neighbours over the fence.

Spring bulbs and the bursting buds of the Acer were best observed from indoors.

Acer bed 6 April

Acer bed 6 April

However, as the weather stayed warm and dry, the plants grew and outdoors was the place to be.  We wanted the garden to have different viewing points, from indoors and outdoors.

From the patio doors 24 May

From the patio doors 24 May

One important spot is the garden bench, which is sited right next to the rose bed.

From the garden bench 29 May

From the garden bench 29 May

Rose bed 29 May

Rose bed 29 May

Another is the view from the bedroom window as this is the first sight of the garden in the morning.

Back Garden 21 May

Back Garden 21 May

New Garden Update 9

We’re starting to get growing in the back garden.  In late March the apple and plum cordons were still sticks, but the potatoes in bags and the emerging onions hinted at things to come.

Apple Cordons Apr 2020

Apple Cordons Apr 2020

Plum cordons 2020

Plum cordons 2020

By late May, the onions were well on and most of the spuds had been distributed to friends and neighbours allowing us to plant out young sweetcorn plants.

Onion bed 29 May

Onion bed 29 May

Sweetcorn bed 29 May

Sweetcorn bed 29 May

We struggle to grow these two crops on the allotment because of the presence of onion white rot and badgers respectively, so always wanted to have the capacity to grow them at home to supplement the things we can grow more successfully on the allotment.

 

Garden Tips – February 2020

As usual at this time of year we’d urge you to remember that it is still winter (despite the lengthening days and occasional bursts of warmer weather). There is plenty that you can do, but don’t worry about postponing things if the ground is waterlogged or frozen. You’ll only damage the soil structure if you put weight on it.

In the better weather; it is still a good time for planting bare root shrubs and trees, and of course container grown plants can go in at any time. Even in a generally soggy time of year, don’t forget to keep new plants well watered.

Bare root roses soaking prior to planting

Bare root roses soaking prior to planting

This year’s snowdrops will be starting to go over by the end of February. If you’re lucky enough to have good colonies of them, this is the perfect time to lift and split clumps, allowing you to start building up stocks in different areas. Also have a look around the garden to check whether you have other things in flower, if not think about adding plants like primulas that provide nectar for early foraging bumblebees.

Depending on the weather and cultivars you are growing, crocuses, narcissi and Iris reticulata will all bloom this month, take time out to enjoy these flashes of colour and heralds of spring.

Crocuses among leaf litter

Daffodils in the sun

Daffodils in the sun

Seed sowing time is arriving for both flowers and vegetables. Use propagators and warm windowsills where appropriate, but don’t forget that you can start hardy annuals in less protected environments.

Finally, for those soggy days; spend some time cleaning and sharpening your tools. As well as extending their lives, using well maintained tools is much easier.  It is also human nature to keep clean things clean.  Wiping one session’s mud off a spade is far less of a task than cleaning a season’s worth of accumulated grot.  As usual the RHS provides good detailed advice.