WHERE DID THE SUN GO?
Early rain in July stopped my friendly pollinators from doing their job!
At least the days are much warmer, but what about all this rain that fell in the early days of July? These constant monsoons are creating paddy fields, and our latest climate change crop will be rice! I’ll have to swap my sun hat for a coolie hat to keep the rain out of my eyes!
And where have all the bees gone? These creatures, like us, like the sun on their backs and are keeping their heads down and sheltering from these heavy rains. This is bad news for us runner bean growers as we need the warm summer evenings for the bees to busy themselves among the crimson and white flowers. There’s already a crisis developing in the bee world with disease, and these wet days aren’t helping their cause!
My strawberries have fed us royally and
I can at last take off the protective net. The birds are welcome to roam my plot again freely. The blackbird seems to have brought up its brood well, even without feasting on the sweet, red berries. They’re prowling the plot looking for tasty morsels and I was
Being an organic gardener has its challenges! Vigilance is key and protective barriers provide safety for your precious crops. The carrots are under an enclosed frame to keep off their arch enemy, the carrot root fly. It’s difficult to believe that growing any members of the brassica family would provide so many obstacles. When you plant them they may suffer from the dreaded club root, but a hole lined with lime and volcanic dust will reduce this problem. Then along comes the cabbage root fly and its young devour the roots; a collar may help but some get through. Then at last they start to grow and along comes the pre y white bu erfly and its young devour the leaves. A net may help protect them. Then, finally, when they’re growing well there’s an a ack from the brassica white fly, which leaves sooty mould over the
I hope this net protects my cabbages www.gardennewsshop.co.uk
very pleased to see them pulling slugs from under the leaves of the plants. This is one strong reason I don’t throw poisonous blue pellets randomly about the plot. One poisoned slug will do untold harm to our feathered friends. So give them time and they’ll help control your pest population. I’m not against using pellets in controlled conditions under cloches, but beware on the open ground of the devastating affect you'll have on wildlife.
Some areas of the plot have been freed by the early harvests of potatoes and garlic. These areas of fertile soil are soon brought back into action. A light forking over, a good top dressing of dry, concentrated manure and blood, fish and bone and the ground is ready to do its second duty of the season. No rest for my soil – it has to earn me back the princely sum of £20 rent
I pay per year for it! So, it’s sown with quick-maturing le uce, beetroot and radish seed.