It has been a very busy week, coping with the weather, watering new plants as well as the thirsty usual.  Some of the gardeners had a glut of plums and greengages, which others were happy to make into Jam for sharing, thank you Theresa and Peter!

Many of the squash and courgette plant leaves had mildew which makes the plants look pretty bad, but is in fact nothing to worry about, and does not harm any of the fruits.  We spent some time cutting off the leaves affected as they do little for the plant.  After some rain, the winter squashes perked up no end as they were on the end of the list for watering as they still have some time to be growing until harvest.  The tomatoes are quite heavy with tomatoes now and the growing tips were removed so that they can concentrate on the fruit they already have to ripen before it is autumn, and not on growing any more.

We have some self-sown plants of ‘lambs ears’ and borage available if any of you would like some for your gardens.  We are often asked about the plants that attract the bees, and below is a picture of a cardoon which is now flowering and is extremely popular with the bees, where they become smothered in pollen.  The cardoon is very similar to the globe artichoke, but not so good to eat.  We have a globe artichoke planted this year, but as yet it is very tiny!

Talking of flowers, there are plenty on the runner beans and they are starting to arrive.  We have white and red flowered varieties.  We pulled up some of the carrots we were given, sown into modules and planted out a few weeks ago; they are a prime example of why it is not such a good idea to transplant them as you can see from the picture below they are very wonky!

This week we have sown coriander, spinach and mooli radish seeds.  It can still be a problem getting hold of certain seeds, but luckily the seed companies are gradually getting in fresh supplies, as the shop supplies dwindle, there are sometimes bargains to be had as they want to get rid of  this year’s stock.  We planted more chard, salad and beetroot.  The soy beans have not been up to much, but they have been dug up several times by visiting furry friends – they never stood a chance, as have several other plants on the edges of the beds where they are rescued and replanted if we catch them in time, or get frazzled in the sun if not!

The Hythe Hops organisers are starting to get busy as we are now closer to harvest.  We were sent a questionnaire to fill in, reporting back on if we have flowers or hops, colour of the hops and estimation of how many so that a prediction can be made as to the exact harvest date and how much is expected so that the breweries can be warned.  We sent in more photographs, and hope at some point to have a professional photograph taken of the volunteer gardeners and our hops for posterity!

What’s next ?

• More sowings of spinach, chard and radishes

• Keep picking and watering if necessary

• Weeding required in some areas

• Assess space for future plantings

• Start moving compost from the lower wall.

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Far too scorchio for us this week, it has been a struggle to hand water the plot, and to water it well enough.

The brassicas have been checked again and again for pesky caterpillars or eggs, which means crawling around on all fours peering at small plants, but very necessary.  The endives and lettuces got planted, as did Chinese cabbages and a few Romanesco, squeezed into the last available space.  The runner beans are now showing plenty of flower and with enough water and no more gale force winds, there could even be some beans!  We noticed lots and lots of ladybird larvae on the beans which was where the blackfly had been partying; thank goodness the cavalry have arrived in force as they should make short work of those unwanted guests.

Some of the sweet corn is starting to swell.  When it is ripe, it gives out a sweet smell which attracts wildlife (thinking in particular of our visiting badger) and so we have been rubbing Vics vapour rub around the base of each plant as an experiment to try to mask the sweetness.  If we come away with any ripe sweet corn, it would be a minor miracle.

The flowers are looking particularly beautiful these past few weeks and we have been picking sweet peas by the armful.  You have to be sure to pick every sweet pea or it will go to seed and stop flowering.  The picking also generates lots and lots of flowers to the point that by the next day, even more are there.  As the season goes on, the stems become shorter and shorter, so faced with hundreds of stumpy flowers we have decided to let them finish and use the much wanted space to grow something else.  It was great while it lasted, and they could for some time, but we are happy to move on with other things. 

The winter squashes are starting to swell, and it can often be difficult to identify which are summer squashes to be picked now, and which are to be left to grow on into the autumn.  Summer squashes are softer and more prolific – winter squashes may only have one or two fruits per plant depending on the variety, and can be stored and eaten months later.  These plants can regulate how many fruits they can cope with over the growing period, and eject any that cause extra stress.  We often have to wind the long trailing stems along the edge of pathways so they do not get stepped on as who knows where they are trying to get to!

What’s next?

• Let the sweet peas go to seed

• Water, water, water

• Pick, pick, pick

• More vapour rub on the sweet corn

• Keep checking for caterpillars

• What are the soy beans doing?  Have they been worth the effort?

• Assess what space if any may become available for planting up in the next few weeks.

• Start to move compost if it cools down.

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The problem with covering up the brassicas with mesh is that you become complacent and think to yourself that no harm will come to those plants nestled in there, until you take a look one day and discover that they were placed inside the covering with butterfly eggs already hiding on them, and not carefully checked so that all the leaves on several plants had disappeared, and the caterpillars are marching with speed towards the rest of the plants!  There was some serious peering at close hand to find the minibeasts and remove them before any more damage was done.  Another lesson learnt and marvel at how clever the caterpillars are to lie along the main vein of a leaf so as to be practically invisible.

Most of this week was about picking and watering, the recent rain had really helped, but never enough for very thirsty sweet peas, beans, salad leaves and courgettes that put on so much growth in just a few days.  Pak choi, chervil, dill and mustard salads got sown; the rainbow chard got planted.

As we are involved with the Hythe Hop scheme, growing four hop plants against the wall, we are sent regular information about how our plants should be doing and news about the expected harvest time.  It is anticipated that the hops will be ready for collecting in mid-September when all the hops in the scheme will be picked at the same time and sent off to be made into a local brew.  It seems our plants are on target as the flowers are now there, and the general growth of the plants is good as shown on the pictures below.

Bee news

One of our gardeners had a swarm of honey bees turn up in her garden this week, but luckily we have a couple of bee keepers in our garden community, and one of them was on hand to catch them.  Unfortunately they decided they were not going to hang around and had other ideas.  Apparently there is a saying ‘a swarm in July isn’t worth a fly’, and such swarms are to be avoided.

Fremantle Park and Golden Valley planters

The Fremantle park planters have now been planted up and signs erected.  Our hope is to help any interested locals to expand the growing area, and plant more in the way of edibles. 

The Golden Valley shop planters have now been weeded and tidied.  Some of the planters have been adopted by the shopkeepers, and they have had an input as to what they would like to grow there, to include an olive tree, various herbs, fruit trees, soft fruit bushes and vegetables.  We have had lots of encouragement and praise from visiting locals, pleased to see the changes being made, and we hope the planters will flourish and be admired. 

What’s next?

• One more check on the netted brassicas just in case!

• Keep picking and watering

• Plant out the endives and lettuces

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