Time to start seed saving
After the blisteringly hot temperatures in July and August, it’s a relief to have some cooler days. We’ve even had some rain; not much but it’s a start and it has refreshed some plants that were starting to suffer.
There are a couple of mature shrubs whose leaves have turned brown and crispy; only time will tell if they’re sacrificing the leaves
in order to survive. I've emptied out some containers whose plants had given up in the heat, refilling them with coleus plants I’ve grown from seed. They’re worthwhile plants, providing some much-needed colour.
Our garden soil is sandy and free-draining so I have to choose plants that are drought tolerant, but the weather conditions proved too much for some. Amazingly though, plants in the ‘autumn border’ in the orchard don’t seem to be suffering at all. This bed has had no compost added; I just cut everything down each spring and shred it in situ, spreading it as a mulch. I've continued to prioritise the vegetable garden when watering, which is paying off. We’re harvesting carrots with a few rows left to take us into autumn, along with beetroot and salad onions. I was late planting courgettes so they’re just starting to crop, along with runner beans. Pigeons have finally decided to leave the dwarf beans alone, which is a relief. We like to eat them too! Garlic has been harvested and is now safely stored in the garage. Another harvest is that of seeds. At the moment I’m collecting sweet pea pods prior to clearing away dead plants and also saving seed from hollyhocks, francoa and dianthus.
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