So far this year has been a bit of a battle garden wise. Last month we were gardening - or should I say trying to garden - in mud and wishing that the ground would dry out so the beds could be prepared for this year's crops.
I guess we should be careful what we wish for as the change of weather in May not only dried the soil but baked it hard. Some beds were prepared during the brief period when the ground was workable but now it is proving almost impossible.
Martyn has managed to knock some beds into shape but it is taking a long time and is very hard going. We took all the weed control fabric off the beds to allow some drying to take place - now we wonder whether that was a mistake.
On top of all this last week a frost was forecast for a couple of nights so we took a couple of precautions. Strawberry plants that were in flower we covered with fleece, potatoes growing without weed control fabric were earthed up and those growing through fabric were covered with wood chippings. The temperatures briefly dropped to 2.2C (36F). We thought we had escaped any damage but the potatoes grew through their covering and some seem to have been nipped a little. We are unsure of whether the problem is frost damage or the result of excessive dryness.
We have given them plenty of water just in case. In fact we spent much of Sunday watering and now have arms a foot or so longer due to lugging heavy watering cans about.
Most of the fruit like the greengages, plums and blueberries have set lots of fruit and have obviously enjoyed the conditions.
At least one gooseberry though hasn't fared too well. The problem is that despite pruning to create an open bush, the bushes on the fruit beds have produced an excessive amount of growth and the gooseberry being low growing is suffering from lack of air flow. Every berry on one bush was badly mildewed. I have removed all the fruit to try and cut down the spread but it looks like we could be gooseberriless this year. It's a shame as the bush was loaded. We'll just have to hope other gooseberry bushes are unaffected
The carrots and parsnips are germinating fairly well but in need of constant watering as are all the seedlings. I just hope that the slugs and snails keep their distance. Must admit that, this year, the parsnips seem to have started germinating faster than I expected.
The first lot of peas had grown enough to need supports and we have sown another two rows of peas and a couple of rows of mangetout and sugarsnap peas. The circles shown in the photo above right are sown with beetroot and chard.
The first lot of sweet peas have now been planted and the rest are waiting for a bed to be ready for them.
Back at home the watercress is now flowering profusely. Reading up on this it seems that the leaves become bitter after the plant flowers. Can anyone confirm this. If this is the case I suppose it will have to come out and more started.
All our rhubarb has grown well this year and some clumps are now sending up more unwelcome flowers. These have been removed.
Flowers or not we still have plenty of stems to harvest
Just one of the stems above were used in the batch of Rhubarb Crumble Muffins that I made this week. Some of the rest was stewed to add to our morning porridge.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
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Oh, I can sympathize - it seems as if we are gardening in extremes, no matter where you live. And a frost in mid-May?? That's very unusual for your climate, isn't it? Even for us, it's not all that common to have a frost after mid-May.
ReplyDeleteMid May frosts are not unexpecte, Margaret. We don’t consider the danger of frost has passed until the last week in May.
DeleteThose rhubarb are amazing! I tried growing it once with no success. The weather for sure has been quite unpredictable this year with late frosts and early heat. Spring has skipped us completely here.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about skipping spring, Shawn Ann. Our area is known for growing rhubarb so most allotment growers have at least one clump. It seems to thrive here.
DeleteMonster rhubarb! It's wonderfully amazing. You would laugh at the runts that are growing in my garden. Oh my, you have to lug watering cans to water your garden?
ReplyDeleteWe could use a hose pipe, Michelle but we prefer to use cans as this way we know hw much water we have applied.
DeleteThat is some healthy looking rhubarb! I have never had much luck growing ti here. That is too bad about the gooseberries. I don't think I've ever seen mildew on them. The deer will eat ours though if I don't cover them soon with netting.
ReplyDeleteI know gooseberries can be prone to mildew, Dave but this is our first experience of it. It’s strange that it’s just the berries that are affected.
DeleteSue, the moisture lost in just one month is quite surprising. The pic of the one uncovered bed looks like it should be August. The frost seems late for you? We have also had a dry May, with one 3-day heat spell where temps reached 90F. However, despite no rain, the soil is still fairly moist and it looks as though rain will come back this upcoming weekend. Which is good because I am tried of hand watering.
ReplyDeleteOur clay soil responds dramatically to weather conditions, Jenni. Martyn dug a bed today which was bone dry on the surface but still soggy further down.
DeleteOh my! That soil certainly is baked! How surprising after it being claggy for a while. Our soil is sandy so plants wilt very quickly, I've had the hosepipe out today. What a shame about your gooseberries....
ReplyDeleteI find the watercress is bitter after flowering, I just pull a bit off and start again. Oh...that rhubarb!!!xxx
Thanks for the info regarding watercress, Dina. I’ll start off a new piece. All soil types seems to present a challenge doesn’t it?
DeleteHot and dry with possible freezing temps at night sounds terrible. It's interesting how the fruit trees seem to be handling the up and down weather rather well. And I hope the rest of the gooseberries have avoided the mildew.
ReplyDeleteWe planted most of the garden a few days ago, there's just a few odds and ends left. And I'm like you, I'd much rather water by hand since clay soil seems to respond better to frequent light waterings.
I’m afraid that the mildew has also appear on some of the other gooseberries, Phuong. Allow we water by hand we do Gove things a good drink each tome. I think different soils respond to watering differently. Ours retains moisture other than on the surface. The seedlings need watering daily but the rest are OK with a good soaking once or twice a week.
DeleteThank you for sharing Sue have a blessed week and Martyn
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda
DeleteAs ever, fascinating stuff! I have the same cracked earth conditions in the former fabric areas. It occurs to me that it might improve if I replace it or use fleece for a few days in advance of removing and tilling straight away. (When I put fleece over my new pea/bean sowings the ground became nice and moist, whereas uncovered areas cracked up). Worth a try?
ReplyDeleteMartyn watered a bed which he intended digging the following day. Then he covered with weed control to stop evaporation. He then turned the soil with a spade and knocked it down with the tiller. It was hard work but seemed to work. Surprising the soil beneath the top few inches was still very wet - or maybe mot so surprising. Anything is worth a try.
DeleteI think we are going to be up against it as climate change affects our weather systems more and more. Today, I struggled to stay warm in the garden with very brisk northerly winds keeping everything moving about.
ReplyDeleteThat baked out bed looks like one from our plot. It has been hard going (no pun intended) these past coupe of weeks, hasn't it? I have resorted to using a hose, but with no nozzle, and I know how long it takes to fill one can at that rate, so it gives me an idea of how much water is going in the soil, plus of course it goes onto the ground not the leaves which helps.
ReplyDeleteRe the Watercress... we carried on eating ours when it had started to flower, I Juts took the top 5cm off and it grew lots of fresh leaves