Vegging out - August

It has been productive in the veg garden this month, with plenty to harvest and enjoy, but not very productive in terms of time in the garden. First another chest infection laid me low for a week, then a wedding away and preparing for a birthday here took my attention. And it was the school holidays with more time with our little one who turned 3 this month. She loves being in the garden but an eagle eye is needed to stop her hurting herself or wreaking havoc - little helper status is yet to come.

So what have we harvested? Cucumbers loads of them and courgettes too many to keep up with - some turning to marrows and ending in the compost bin, but others eaten and enjoyed and some turned into courgette cake. The sweet corn has done better this year I think due to deeper planting but, as usual, the ones in front of the prevailing wind haven’t fully pollinated. They are wind pollinated so more needs to be done in future to give a helping hand to those facing the wind head on. The peas are over now but the runner and climbing French beans are still going strong,

In the greenhouse the tomatoes are ripening nicely after a late start. Some, the Ailsa Craig in particular, very have grown leggy and are heading out of the window in the roof, due to me not paying enough attention to pinching out side shoots and stopping the leading shoots. I do wonder whether my method of growing tomatoes isn’t the best as they are never very sturdy plants. They are in Grow Bag compost on an Autopot watering system and despite replacing the valves this year and checking the piping, four of the six sets have not got water coming though now, so I’m having to water by hand - what pain!

Best of all is the fruit, with the damson tree in the hedge, sending forth a big branch laden with fruit at just the right height for picking, a batch of our favourite damson jam is the result. Our single raspberry plant, Glencoe, has yielded 9lbs of jam, from fruit picked and frozen until fruiting finished. I do love the fruit bushes, so much to harvest from so little effort. I didn’t have time to make jelly from the redcurrants so, with everything else picked, the netting was taken of the roof off the fruit cage to let the birds in to enjoy them.

What aren’t doing too well are the parsnips which are slow to grow, similarly the beetroot, in the same raised bed. It might be that it is too shady there, or that I was over a month late to sow the seeds originally. Slow to grow cannot be said of the one squash plant, which is now at least 12ft long having been stopped after 3 fruits have formed. Like the tomatoes, sweet peppers and chilli peppers in the greenhouse (where the door is left open throughout the summer) the pollination rate hasn’t been great and there has been a distinct lack of insects in the garden compared with previous years. All the more reason to listen to the advice given on our recent Bee Walk.