Enjoy the fruits of your labour as it’s harvest time. Then ready up for next year’s yummy crop
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The abundance of berries makes a trip to the vegetable patch a chance to snack on their sun-ripened flavours. While strawberries are the fruits that we associate with Wimbledon season, raspberries too are ready to eat now and to some palates these taste even better.
Picking raspberries as they are ready encourages the developing berries to ripen faster, providing more of their succulent flavour for sprinkling on cereal, adding to desserts or turning into jam that can be eaten during the winter to remind you of summer.
Once all the berries have been picked, cut out all the old canes, severing these at ground level. From what remains, pick the strongest young canes and tie these to horizontal wires. These are what will give you next year’s crop, so remove any weak canes in order to direct all of the plant’s energies into those that you have selected, which should continue to grow strongly for the rest of the season.
If you want raspberry season to last longer, then you should also grow some autumn-fruiting varieties, which will take over when those that are ready now have ceased to provide any more fruit, and will continue giving you a harvest until late in the year.
Autumn varieties are very easy to care for, simply cut down all the stems at ground level during the winter and they will grow again next year.
Meanwhile gooseberries and currants will ripen better if you remove some of the top growth above them.
Keep a close eye on tomatoes now and water regularly. This is key to preventing common problems such as blossom end rot and cracked fruit. Apply a potassium-rich liquid feed and remove yellow leaves low down on the plant to prevent disease and to allow more light to reach the fruits.
Keep the heat down by opening vents and dampening down the floor – tomatoes stop growing when the temperature reaches 30C and pinch out the growing point of plants when seven trusses have appeared.
Meanwhile keep removing side shoots as they appear, pinching them out with your fingers.