"There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments"
Janet Kilburn Phillips
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It's summer already!
Hi Everyone.
Half way through the year and things are hotting up! As I write this my weather app says that we have no rain forecast for the next two weeks. That of course means a lot of time watering, especially if you have things growing in pots. Don't forget those pots!
So what have we got in store for you this month?
- What to sow and grow in June
- It's going to be hot π₯΅
- Barnes Pond Fair 3rd June.
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And lastly, Lottie news and members questions.
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What to sow and grow in June.
By June the danger of night time frosts should be well and truly over and it should be possible to sow most seeds outside.
With the lengthening days and warmer temperatures, June is one of the busiest 'growing' months, with everything growing rapidly, including the grass and weeds! Try to keep on top of these as they will be taking valuable water and nutrients out of the soil. When you do water, give the soil a good drenching every few days rather than just a splash!
So what can we sow now, well practically anything. Beans, Cabbages, Carrots, Peas, Kale, everything except Garlic. You can still grow Potatoes although you might want to stick with a main crop variety. However, if you have some 1st or 2nd early spuds that still haven't gone in, no worries. Just bung 'em in, as I always say, what's the worst that can happen. You might find you get a nice little crop.
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Succession Growing - What is it & why do it? | |
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Succession growing is sowing and growing vegetables in small batches with between one to four weeks between sowings to avoid having gluts or empty spaces in your vegetable beds.
Some quick growing veg such as Lettuce are more suited for succession sowing, whereas slower growing veg might need a whole season to grow and are not worth growing successionally.
It does require you do a bit of forward planning, but if you want to get the most from the space you've got, then succession growing is a great way to achieve this. A little example of this is that last year I planted quite a few French Beans all in one go and before I knew it I was drowning in Beans, having to pick them almost every day to keep up with them. This year however, I will be growing fewer plants in smaller batches that I will spread out over a longer period.
Check out Hew Richards excellent video below who explains it all in more detail.
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π₯΅ It's going to be hot! π₯΅
Last year temperatures in the UK hit another record high and there have been reports lately of us having another record breaking summer.
Forecasters have predicted that the El NiΓ±o weather cycle will return later this year leading to yet more record breaking temperatures.
As food gardeners what can we do to prepare for scorching weather so we don't lose our precious crops.
There are two main things we can do and the first one is to mulch our beds using one of many biodegradable options. There's leaf mould, grass cuttings, wood chips or home made and store bought compost. All of these will help to keep the moisture in the soil and help stop it from drying out.
The second thing is to make sure you are watering properly. You can take a look at Newsletter 11 on my website for an in depth piece on being water wise accompanied by a video to watch.
The main thing is to water at the roots where the water is needed. It's also better to give a good thorough soaking every two to three days rather than a light water every day. If you're not sure wether to water or not, stick your finger in the soil and have a dig around. If an inch or so below the surface is cool and slightly damp you will probably be okay for another day. Very often you can water and the surface looks wet, but underneath it could still be bone dry. It's always best to check.
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I'm back again at the Barnes Pond Fair this Saturday 3rd. from 10am - 3pm. I will have quite a few Veg plants, Herbs and companion plants. I'll also have some garden flowers too. I have to confess I'm getting more and more into flowers lately, nothing fancy, just some cheery colourful ones for my front & back garden. My gardens get so neglected π₯΄
Anyway here's a list of some of the plants that I will have on the day:
Runner Beans, Climbing Beans with purple flowers,
Brussel Sprouts, French Beans,Tomatoes,
Aubergines, Butternut Squash, Mashed Potato Squash,
Perpetual Spinach (Chard)
Chives, Calendula, Mint, French Marigolds,
Basil, Thyme, Nasturtiums, Rosemary.
See you there!
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Lottie News!
My little table top sale in my front garden at the beginning of May was a bit quiet I have to confess. This was I think, partly because the weather wasn't very good, it rained on and off for an hour and I mistakenly put Saturday 1st instead of Monday 1st in the newsletter, Doh! Silly me π₯΄. At least I managed to clear out my greenhouse to make room for yet more pots and trays of seedlings.
On the plot last month things were making progress. The Peas were filling out, as were the Gooseberries. The first early Potatoes were showing signs of flowering and I even got a few decent spears of Asparagus. Sod's law really, as I'd given up on getting anything decent from the crowns and went and planted some Curly Kale and Cavolo Nero in the same bed, not something you should do, but it's done now, so I'll just have to see how it goes.
The poly tunnel had several Tomato plants, two Aubergines, one Cucumber and two Melon Plants planted and I actually remembered to put the strings under them this time. This is so they can be supported by winding round the strings as they grow taller.
There was unfortunately another visit by Mr. fox and his family just last week. I had stupidly forgotten to cover the new bags of peat free, organic compost with chicken wire and the little buggers ripped all four bags apart making a terrible mess. I gathered up what I could salvage off the pathway and the surrounding area and put it into the big tubs where it was meant to go and what happens?...the following night they dug most of it out of the tubs as well. So annoying! And compost ain't cheap these days eh!
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Members Questions
A couple of people have asked what they should do about potatoes that were accidentally left in the ground the previous year and have now sprouted or what is technically known as being a 'Volunteer Potato'
Personally I just pull them up and these Volunteers are partly why I now grow all my Potatoes in tubs or Potato bags. I did however look to find out if you could get a harvest from a rogue spud and apparently you can.
If you were to leave the Volunteer in the ground it would eventually give you a harvest of more Potatoes, but you have to consider a couple of things. Firstly, as Potato foliage can grow quite big, have you got the space for it to grow alongside what you now want to grow in that bed, especially if you are rotating your crops. Secondly, the longer a Potato stays in the ground the more chance it will have of being attacked by pests.
So if you have the space, there's nothing wrong with leaving it in the ground to do it's own thing and you may even get a small harvest from it.
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If you have a food gardening question you'd like to ask just pop me an email and I'll see how I can help. I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I will do my best to answer any of your questions.
In the meantime, if you know of anyone who might like to become a FG4A member do feel free to forward them this email and get them to visit the website and sign up, it's free!
Or you can always catch up with what I've been up to on Facebook or instagram.
Keep safe.
Christine x
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33 South Worple Way
London, SW14 8PB United Kingdom
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