Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday I was starting my seedlings under a grow lamp in the dark days of January. Now? Well, let me take you on a tour of my garden in June and discuss what worked, what didn’t, what can still be planted in June and plans for the rest of summer.
Flower Power
Although the garden is primarily for vegetables, I have a long flower bed down one side. This is required per the rules of the association but also has many benefits in terms of attracting pollinators such as bees and other insects, distracting pests from the vegetables and making the garden look beautiful. I try to include flowers are edible or have herbal uses as well as those that look pretty.
This year my flower bed is jam packed. New for 2020 I have added 2 artichoke plants, 40 gladioli bulbs and some cornflowers.
Unfortunately My lavender and sage keep dying. Probably due to how wet the soil is in the winter but I’m hoping to add them back in again next year.
Fried Egg Plant & Bees
The bees adore the fried egg plant. You can hear the buzzing anywhere on my plot. It’s hard to capture them properly in a photo but there are usually 30 or more bees buzzing around the flowers and I have seen honey bees, bumble bees and mason bees.
It makes me happy to see so many bees in the garden and a good sign that my plants will be well pollinated. This year I added nesting tubes for mason bees in the garden with the help of a fellow gardener so hopefully I’ll have my own resident population by the end of the year.
Comforting Comfrey
Not only is this a very pretty plant, it has a multitude of uses too. The bees love it and because it starts to flower quite early in the spring it is one of the first plants they can collect nectar and pollen from in the spring.
It is a fabulous soil improver. It dies back and grows again. This one usually does it twice a year. Adding the dead leaves and cuttings to your compost improves its quality or lay it between rows of vegetables and let it breakdown and add nutrients around the roots.
Humans can benefit from this too. It is widely used in salves and creams and is known for it’s soothing and healing properties. A fellow gardener adds handfuls of leaves to a warm bath and swears it eases her joint pain.
Please note I am not providing medical advice. Should you wish to explore the potential health properties of any of these plants, please do your own research and seek the advice of a medical professional.
Blueberries
I have struggled with my blueberries. I got 3 bushes and put them in my flower bed a year into my garden adventure. It’s no exaggeration to say I’ve had about 5 edible blueberries since then (4 years). One of the bushes died and the others produced a few sparse berries here and there.
Last year after enviously studying everyone else’s bulging berries weighing down the plants I decided to learn more about the plants. The first thing I realised is the soil probably wasn’t acidic enough, so I started adding sawdust around the roots more often. I also wondered if they were suffering during the winter months so I mulched around the base of the plants with a big pile of leaves to keep off the frost and add more nutrients to the soil.
It seems to have worked as there are probably 10 times more berries on the plants than last year. I can’t wait for them to ripen so I can add them to my yoghurt for breakfast.
Vigorous Vegetables
So much satisfaction is gained from watching your vegatables grow and slowly cover the dark earth until all you have is a sea if green. You might think there is nothing to do now the garden is fully planted but there is always something that requires attention and there are always weeds. If you have good soil, you will also have good weeds!
My definition of weed is quite broad – anything that grow s where you don’t want it too. So sometimes my weeding includes pulling up fried egg plant that has spilled over into the vegetable section or lupins or nasturtiums that have self seeded and popped up in the middle of the plot, stray kale and even potatoes. My garden also gets a covering of Purslane which is a edible, cultivated salad and cover crop in some parts of the world but considered a weed in others. I choose to see it as a cover crop and let it grow as it suppresses other weeds, traps moisture in the soil and is very pleasant in salads.
Borage also pops up here and there and is a welcome garnish for a glass of Pimms, attracts bees and is also excellent for composting.
New in 2020
This year I’m trying my hand at turnips, chickpeas and soy beans (edamame). I’m not sure why I’ve never grown turnips before but they are doing well and hopefully they’s be ready to harvest in a week or two.
Soy beans are tricky. This is my fourth year trying to grow them and the first time I’ve achieved a plant. Out of 16 beans I got 6 plants and 3 are still living. I will have to consider whether it is worth the effort next year.
The chickpeas are coming on surprising well. I had no idea what to expect. but they have popped up and seem to be thriving. They are quite different to the beans and peas – looking almost like a fern.
Unfortunately I don’t have any good pictures of my artichoke plants but they are doing well in the garden. I did almost pull one out as a weed the other day!
Because of the demand for seeds and seedlings, I’m trying a few new varieties of carrots, peas, potatoes and kale. All seem to be doing well apart from the carrots. More on carrots below.
Spot the carrot
This bed has my garlic and carrots. Can you spot them? Me neither. I have sowed carrots 4 times now and eventually have some seedlings coming up but this is what I have been faced with for the last 2 months. Bare earth.
So I think the carrot seeds were too old the first time. Fine. I bought more seeds. I got a few shoots and then they disappeared. A freak frost? A passing plague of slugs?I have taken extra care to keep my soil moist to allow germination. So not too dry. Too wet? Who knows. At least I have some seedlings coming through now so hopefully I’ll get a carrot harvest soon.
I’ve had a similar problem with lettuce, multiple sowings and not a lettuce leaf in sight. This is a mystery I haven’t been able to solve yet but I’ll keep trying. In the meantime we are eating spinach, endive, beet leaves and baby chard as our salad greens.
Last minute breakthrough in the case!
I was at the garden again and all my carrot shoots had vanished again. This time the perpetrator left evidence behind. the eaten remains of the carrots and what looked like slug or snail trails. I’m trying again but this time I have the plastic row cover laid directly over the soil to try and protect the shoots as they come up. If that doesn’t work there is nothing for it but 24/7 security patrols and a big tub of salt.
Garden detective
As you may have gathered from the above. Being a gardener means being a detective. Why aren’t my seeds sprouting, what’s eating the leaves, why are the plants wilting, turning yellow etc. We spend a lot of time solving plant problems by reading books, talking to other gardeners and sending pictures to the latest plant app. While gardeners may like to work alone, nothing brings us together faster than the mystery of a brown spot on a leaf or a new weed species that needs to be identified.
Pick me now!
Broccoli in my opinion is one of the most demanding brassicas, second only to cauliflower. In the picture you see the head starting to form. You know it’s not ready yet. It’s too small and tightly packed. Another few days and then WHAM! The flower buds have exploded into yellow flowers on leggy stems that are too tough to eat and your broccoli is no more. Hopefully I catch this one in time.
Cabbage on the other hand is a low maintenance relative. They slowly form a lovely cabbage head. You can pick it small or let it get big. If you cut the first head out but leave plenty of leaves and stem it will grow small secondary heads. You can leave them over the winter and still be eating them early in the new year.
Kale is easy too. It will over winter, self seed and keep on going. The more you pick the leaves the happier it is and the sadder C gets. He’s not a fan of Kale.
Not too late to plant
In June there is still plenty you can plant. Green onions (scallions), carrots (thank goodness), radish, beans and squash to name a few. It’s also time to start harvesting as your fruit and vegetables mature and fruit.
I hope you have enjoyed this update and I’ve inspired you to get out there and plant some veggies. Enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Stay safe, stay in the garden and always be creative.
Great to hear hear from you. Your veggies are looking good