Tomato Harvests And A Second Spring!

So what’s going on in my garden right now? I have a front garden that’s full of perennials, it is in its second year since changing a square patch of lawn into a pollinator rich garden. It is glorious right now with oranges hues of kniphofia spires, waves of rudbeckia and gorgeous echinachea, potential and astrantia intermingled with flowing grasses.  It has been a huge success and one of the most rewarding transformations we have done in the garden.  It is too big to water the plants individually and sprinklers are not efficient so it has been left to fend for itself and, remarkably,  it hasn’t all gone to seed. I am a no-dig gardener which means I don’t turn over or dig the soil at all and feed the soil with mulch once yearly. No dig soils are undisturbed and much better equipped for surviving drought periods. They are able to retain moisture much better and the organisms and mycorrhizal fungi under the soil left undisturbed will help root networks reach far and wide in search of moisture. 

Heat lovers like the chillis, peppers, melons, tomatoes and aubergines have been loving the hot weather, they are all producing great fruits, some of these are grown in my greenhouse and are planted in borders, others are outside in large pots. The aubergines have excelled themselves in this being their most productive year ever. The pot grown veggies have been residing outside for a while now and are doing as good, if not better than those inside the greenhouse.   I feel that outside may just provide them with some breeze, and more pollinators but they’re not subjected to the extreme scorching temperatures when behind glass.

Outside beds are currently in full swing, I’ve got a varied mixed garden of flowers, herbs and veggies to encourage as much biodiversity into the garden as possible.

I don’t use any chemicals or nasties; I believe that if you have a garden full of biodiversity, then nature takes care of itself.  I am currently harvesting  green beans ‘Box’ , runner beans ‘ Moonlight’, dwarf yellow beans ‘Dior’ , courgettes ‘Zucchini’, summer squash ‘Delicata & ‘White Custard’’, lettuce ‘Freckles’, celery ‘Golden Self-Blanching’, beetroot ‘Detroit’, spring onions ‘Lilia’ and main crop potatoes’ Pink Fir‘.  Last month I harvested garlic and onions, they’re now plaited and hung up for storage and in their place are now brassicas i.e. kale, savoy cabbage, pointed cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

All my veggies ( except carrots and parsnips) are grown from seed either saved from my garden or sourced in the UK, I try to source seeds sustainably, saving as much seed as I can for my own use and for my subscribers. I module sow, first into a seed tray and then prick out into modules and grow on until planting time. Most are started inside and a lot of the seeds are germinated earlier in the year are germinated using heat. I find that I have more control and more success this way than sowing direct, I think the plants have better chance of surviving slug attack and are that bit stronger before they go outside. Of course, not everyone has the space to module sow their veggies first, it does take time but not nearly as much space as you think, I multi sow a lot of mine to save space. You’ll find more information about multi-sowing on my website alongside my sowing tips and on my YouTube channel ‘Queen Of Seed’. Of course, sowing directly into the soil is fine too, albeit later in the year from May usually, when the ground has warmed up sufficiently to aid germination.