Hello,
It’s been a bit of a funny time of late, weather wise, the garden is usually clamoring for water at least three times a week, especially the pots and planters but I have found that due to the lack of scorching sunshine, I haven’t had to water as much which is actually a nice relief ( saying that I am writing this on an odd hot day). However the lack of sunshine has meant that we have been behind and some strange results have come from this years crop, swings and roundabouts though, some veggies have absolutely loved it. We can sometimes tend to focus on the negatives of a less than sunny summer but growth rates have been really good, just perhaps a little later for harvests.
The greenhouse has comer into its own recently, not just from the tomatoes but its from late August onward into September that the chilies are really producing a lot of fruit, I always find them late anyway and this year is no exception, I have Friars Hat, Thai, Padron, Hungarian Black and Hot Wax on the go, the Thai chilli being the latest to flower.Ive already harvested some Padron’s and wow were they hot! Think the trick is to harvest when small, I probably let them get oo big, they are delicious though, dry fried until blackened and cover with oil and salt. A lot of people have suffered blight this year on their tomatoes, wet dull weather a contributing factor, I have had a few that have looked like they might get it but actually it hasn’t spread and I have come out with a good yield of tomatoes, most leaves have now been taken off the vines, allowing the maximum light to get to the fruit. It’s also time to remove any shading you may have had up, no point in it now, we need to let as much light in as possible.
I have had possibly the best courgette and squash production ever this year, and I am attributing at least some of this to vertical growing, you may remember this was a first for me this year and I am pleased to say that I will be doing this forever more! Such a space saver and they loved it, I need more wigwams ( more land really ha ha) but 100% success for this way of growing, simply tie them in at appropriate intervals and the fruit hang down for easy ripening. In comparison I have had the worst cucumbers ever! I’ve been ignoring Instagram images of everyone’s bumper harvests as mine were not happy. I had a small yield compared to previous so next year fingers crossed this changes. As with everything In the garden its a constant see saw so I don’t mind too much. The other veg that’s storming on the growth front for me are the brassicas, kale ( Nero di Toscana), Brussel Sprouts ( Evesham Special) and Calabresse (Green Sprouting ) are doing brilliantly, I am already harvesting Kale, the rest will wait until ready but the buttons on the Brussels are looking like they’ll be ready for the all important Christmas Dinner and that’s the main thing.
Flowers in the garden are a triumph, from Verbena to Zinnia, Cosmos to Scabious, there’s a plant for everyone, pollinator friendly gardening means I have grown a little bit of everything and just bunged it all together and let it be. It looks so pretty at the moment, the Cosmos are inter-planted amongst Roses and the Marigolds , Nasturtiums and Zinna are mingling with the veg. Inter-planting flowers in the beds brings a bit more colour and interest. Nasturtiums act as a magnet for butterflies that like to lay their eggs on brassicas, hopefully diverting their attentions elsewhere and Marigolds deter white fly from Tomatoes so always good to have around, I grow them under the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
