It’s finally getting warmer!

Doesn’t it feel there is a sense of freshness around?  I know we’ve had a very wet May but wow! everything is looking lush for all this rain, the greens are almost luminous. It’s funny isn’t it, the rain has been bad and we’ve all been moaning about it, but I put out on Instagram this week that rather than focusing on how wet it’s been and how things aren’t flowering, be positive and look at all the things that are growing. Certainly flowers are struggling a little but they’ll be ok, I can assure you that the roots under the ground are happy and a lot is growing I promise. Tender plants that we have been protecting can now step into the light and grow happily in the flower and the vegetable garden alike.  Throughout this month, buds open and flower one after the other, bringing the garden in full working mode. I have Limnanthes, Borage and Calendula already in flower providing some much needed food for the bees and the sweet peas are doing a slow but steady climb. We are behind this year for sure and of course, each garden has its own climate, what happens in one may be different from the next but this is the month to really look forward to, the long days reach their peak and stretch out, so do take time to stop and enjoy the garden as much as possible and have gratitude for the long evenings, where you can sit down relax and watch the birds flitting about the garden before nightfall the evenings are a good time to nature watch, especially dusk when the Bats and the Owls come out. 

For kitchen gardeners, the veggie plots are filling up and everything is growing like mad. Beans, climbling or dwarf are happy to go out this month, this year I am growing Runner Bean ‘Scarlet Emperor’ it has gorgeous red flowers, Borlotti Beans which I grow mainly because they look so pretty and French Beans Dior, a yellow dwarf variety.  I mainly stick to climbing varieties, for me better space wise. Growing vertically can lend itself to quite a lot of veg, Beans, Cucumbers, Courgettes and Squashes can all be trained to climb. I must admit I have never embraced the vertical growing of Courgettes and Squash but this year I am giving it a go, my plot is not the biggest so this may be the answer to allowing a bit more space. I adore courgettes and like to have a good supply, they can be terribly prolific so don’t sow too many plants! They also need room which is why I am growing a smaller bush variety called ‘Verde De Milano’ so I can save on some much needed space. I also have a great Summer Squash on the go called ‘ Custard White’ it looks like a little spaceship and is best harvested small, you can treat it like a courgette and it’s so delicious just a light fry, a bit of butter and garlic, a sprinkling of salt and you’re ready to go. 

I have a bit of a rush on at the moment to do some much needed weeding, needs to be done on a dry day though if possible, I acquired some compost locally which was great but I have now discovered its full of nettle! Not too much of a problem but I have largely ignored that task so they’ve gone a bit mad. It’s important to keep on top of it so they don’t take precious nutrients and light from your growing seedlings, a job for this weekend I feel. 

At this time of year it’s good to have a second sowing for another crop to fill your space after first cropping is over. Many Winter Brassicas such as Kale, Purple Spouting Broccoli and Calabrese are best sown now so they are ready to plant out later in the year. Calabrese is the green large head variety you see in shops labelled as Broccoli. True Broccoli can be purple white or green and is the shoot variety (e.g. purple sprouting broccoli).

As with all sowing advice, of course, if you follow and social media, people are already sowing all sorts of things earlier than I would suggest, but I find that by sowing these in June, they are ready to plant out later in the year, if you prick out your seedlings into modules then they can stay in the module until they go direct into the ground, no need for transplanting to a bigger pot to grow on, thus saving you compost and time.  It’s a method that does require timing to be somewhat accurate which is why my monthly seed subscriptions work so well, they’re sent out at the right time for you to sow. I always try to pop a post on my Instagram to show my favoured sowing times so if you save those posts you can keep them for reference later. 

You can also sow Peas, Beetroot, Climbing Beans, Lettuce, Carrots, and Sweetcorn direct into the ground for a second crop. Make sure you water the soil before you sow, this will ensure the seeds don’t get washed away and ensures moisture is in direct contact with the seed. 

Towards the end of this month hopefully my soft neck garlic is ready to harvest, hard neck garlic in July. Soft neck garlic is has many cloves per bulb (is the standard one you are most likely to see in the shops) and has great storing ability, I like this type because I love to plait them up and hang them in the kitchen; they look gorgeous hung up with dried chillies. (Hard neck varieties are impossible to plait). I chop and change varieties each year, this year I have gone for an early variety called Rhapspody Wight,  supposedly ready early June but I will leave it a few weeks longer because of the climate, and a later variety that’s good for storing called Solent Wight, both available online from ‘The Garlic Farm’. 

Wild garlic is abundant at this time of year, pick the leaves, not the flower,  it’s got a gorgeous flavour but be warned you only need a tiny bit, it can be quite strong, if you don’t mind that then it’s a lovely addition to an Omelette or Frittata. A good tip is to pick the leaves, wash them then dry them out on a tea towel, they go all crispy, grind them up in a spice grinder and you have a garlic powder for use all year round. Perfect!