A seasonal roundup

At last the tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. The greenhouse is full of tomatoes and chillis and I've also added some lettuce in containers so the slugs can't get to them.

Of all the purchases I've made this year I think the greenhouse is the best. I've got a bit of work to do 'winter proofing' it once the tomatoes have finished but that will be no problem. My first greenhouse season has been a huge success and I can't wait to see what will grow in there next year.

Definitely more chillis!

Of the three butternut squash plants I grew only this one has produced. Still, three lovely squashes on my first attempt is not bad at all.

Lastly, my surprise find - a big cauliflower! Because of the terrible weather I have mostly left the garden to do its own thing this past month. Imagine my surprise when I went to investigate on one of our rare dry days and found this beauty.

This gorgeous thing has an appointment with some cheese sauce this weekend. A date with destiny methinks!

Nothing to do

For the first time since I started my first full gardening year I seem to have nothing to do. Oh, there's the odd bit of weeding now and then and the daily watering in the greenhouse, but all the big jobs have been done now.

After the spring flurry of potting, seeding, repotting, encouraging, eventual planting out and subsequent nurturing, August brings time to sit and contemplate and, of course, eat.

Last night I feasted on home grown potatoes and broad beans. Tonight I'll be stuffing a huge marrow and roasting it alongside beetroot and swede, flavoured with my own garlic.

The ponds have produced a bumper crop of froglets, the tomatoes are starting to ripen, the monarda are keeping the bees in buzzy happiness and quite simply, for now, the garden no longer needs me.

If I was to ask, I think it would reply, "Look, I know what to do, I've been doing it for years. Just let me get on with it. OK?"

How can I argue with that?

Reaping the rewards

Radishes and courgettes have given way to marrows and runner beans. I've not had much success at pumpkins but the tomatoes are flourishing and two tiny little tumbling toms have started to turn orange.

Beetroot, potatoes and broad beans have also been on the menu and it is true, you know - home grown does taste so much better than shop bought.

A pea shaped hole

The glorious peas have been and gone. No new flowers were coming and the stalks were turning yellow. I certainly can't complain about the amount of food they produced though. I was eating peas for weeks, huge, sweet juicy things.

There is now a large pea shaped hole in the raised bed. Elsewhere I have beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower so I really don't know what to put in there next.

Any suggestions?

Monsters in my garden

Cor, just call me Hugh Fearlessly-Eatsitall. My garden is like being in River Cottage, apart from it not being a cottage and there isn't a river.

How about this for a first crop from the bounties of my garden - courgette, french beans, some lovely salad leaves, a whole mountain of peas and one of the largest radishes I've ever seen. (The courgette was lovely, by the way. I had it for my tea last night.)

Take a look at that bad boy. Five inches long! It was a veritable giant amongst radishes and tasted darned good on my salad this lunch time. The others had nothing to be ashamed of but were dwarfed next their enormous brother.

My last picking of the day was these lovely blackcurrants. They are now living in the freezer until I have enough to jam.

The next bush along is covered with white currants but I have no idea if they are ripe or not. Anyone have a clue?

Water

If you've been keeping up with my ramblings you'll know how much my attitude to rain has changed since I became a gardener. Gone are the cries of woe when the clouds roll in. Now I do a little rain dance and welcome them and their wonderful wet bounty with open arms.

Not that much in the way of rain has happened very often recently. This is the driest June we've had for 80 years. Growing my own veg is a very exciting venture but they aren't going to produce anything if they don't get a regular drink.

Because of that my water butts are nearly empty and I experience pangs of guilt every night before using the hose pipe to keep my precious veg alive. What else though can one do?

Thinking about my runner beans etc. has prompted me to look into water in general and the way we consume it.

Did you know that on average an adult in the Gambia uses 5 litres of water per day? The equivalent figure for an adult in the UK is a staggering 150 litres. A family of four can easily use 500 litres of water a day! That amount has doubled since the 60's and is increasing still.

If you times that by the number of households in an average small town that becomes an astonishingly huge amount of water being used each day. Yet when mention of a hose pipe ban is heard we moan and gripe and recall how wet it was last July and surely all that water must still be there to use.

Of course it isn't.

These days I only put my washing machine on once a week, same with the dishwasher and I really do try to be aware of how many times I flush the toilet. Thinking of my water use has made me cut down considerably and I feel I can justify giving what I have saved to my veg.

So if, like the old pre-gardening me, you are hoping for more blue skies and long warm days, spare a thought for us gardeners and also our beleagured reservoirs.

I've been promised rain today. It's overcast and dull but it hasn't happened yet. So if you see a strange person waving her arms around, turning and circles and casting pleading looks to the sky, it's only me doing my rain dance.

Success... ish

Every morning I go down to the greenhouse before I go to work to see how everyone has done overnight. They get watered in the evening so the morning is just a social visit. Yesterday I was delighted to see that my biggest tomato plant has had babies.

Tiny tomatoes are appearing although I'm not sure whether they are Harbinger or Italian plum. Being a newbie to this growing lark I forgot to label them and they got mixed up when I planted them out.

Tumbling Tom is also starting to fruit and I can't wait to eat my first home grown tomato.

My outdoor courgettes however have been less successful. One has died completely and the other is looking a bit yellow. I'm determined to save him and I've started feeding him every other day in the hope of putting some life back into him.

Lastly, here's my first cucumber.

OK, so he's only an inch long but I've told him that great things are expected of him. I'll be down there tonight with my tape measure!

Symbiosis

This weekend I discovered black bean aphids on one of my plants, a cornflower that I grew from seed. Then I noticed that ants were regularly visiting the aphids and rather than eating them, seemed to be taking care of them.

Intrigued by this, I looked it up on the internet and discovered that the ants are indeed farming the aphids for the sweet secretions they produce.

The picture isn't clear as my camera wanted to focus on the fence behind the plant but you get the idea. Here's one from Wiki.

I suppose that as a gardener my reaction should be one of horror but as a lover of nature in all its forms I am absolutely fascinated by this symbiosis and can't help but be impressed by the enterprise of the ants.

I'll be keeping my eye on them because I'd rather they didn't spread to my broad beans about a metre and a half away but for now I'd much rather watch nature at work than destroy it.

Planning ahead

Things really are starting to grow now and there are signs that I will have my first edible courgette soon. Not realising how big they grow I stupidly put three plants in one admittedly large planting bag. Next year I will be giving them more space.


All the tomatoes are covered with flowers but the Tumbling Tom in particular are looking very interesting. If all the flowers product a tomato I might be drowing in them!

The peas have a huge amount of pods and they are starting to fill out.

The pak choi have doubled in size in a week.

And these are the refugees from the greenhouse. Sweetcorn, butternut squash and pumpkins have all come to live in the back yard. They have joined the potatoes, strawberries and the backup beans and peas. Those are french beans and peas planted in big pots for them the main crop has finished.

It never hurts to plan ahead!

Nitrogen

The subject of nitrogen and different vegetables requirements is quite complex and I'm only just starting to get my head around it.

Of course it's not just nitrogen but also phosphorus and potassium too which make up the NPK balance shown on fertiliser packets.

When you buy fertiliser you will see an analysis of the NPK content. An equally balanced fertiliser may be described as 5:5:5 - 5% Nitrogen, 5% Phosphorus and 5% Potassium. You may also see Potassium described as Potash.

Nitrogen is used by the plant to produce leafy growth and formation of stems and branches. Plants most in need of nitrogen include grasses and leafy vegetables such as cabbage and spinach. Basically, the more leaf a plant produces, the higher its nitrogen requirement.

Here are the nitrogen requirements of various vegetables.

Very High Nitrogen Requirement	High Nitrogen	Medium Nitrogen
Brussels Sprouts Cabbages Rhubarb	Beetroot Celery Leeks Spinach	Broccoli Calabrese Cauliflower Lettuce

Low Nitrogen	Very Low Nitrogen	No Nitrogen
Asparagus Runner Beans Parsnip Swede Onion	Carrots Radish	Peas Broad Beans

Tomatoes need some nitrogen but can't make their own so they have to be fed regularly. The NPK of Tomorite, for example, is 24% 27% 48% which is twice as much potassium than nitrogen.

Confused? You will be! More on this as we go.