From a gardener’s perspective, we’re into the business part of the year, and our hard work in the spring can now be admired and devoured. It is all go and sometimes we don’t know what to do first – plant out, tend, weed, tidy, feed, water, tend again, water yet again…
Summer is a beautiful season and there is nothing like the taste of the first broad bean, the first strawberry, or the first tomato. All the back ache just slips away when you eat your own produce.
We have been working hard to ensure each growing bed is full of brassicas, roots, legumes, onions, leeks, radish, leaves, cucumbers, courgettes and tomatoes. Everything grows at a rapid pace and we must keep up. The sweet and chilli peppers, aubergines, late potatoes and winter crops are all in situ too, ready to be harvested later.
Mother Nature dictates to us all, particularly gardeners, and she has been throwing curve balls lately. On the farm and in the walled garden, the climate plays a huge role in deciding our tasks. While we’ve had the light and heat required for growing, we have not had the required amount of rain lately, so watering has become the gardeners’ duty – and it’s proving to be a near-full-time job! We’re lucky to have ground irrigation and overheard systems in place as different plants enjoy each system. We always check the systems and try to limit what we use by ensuring water isn’t wasted.
Meanwhile, home gardeners and allotment holders will, no doubt, spend each evening watering. This is a great time to look at how your flowers and produce are growing, and make sure those pesky critters aren’t enjoying your goodies. It is also really relaxing and it’s important to take time to wander around your garden, take in the sights and sounds, and enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Ann Paton and her husband Bob run their own farm and are recreating a walled garden at Freyja in the Tyne Valley. For more from Ann, visit www.hexhamshireorganics.co.uk/blogs/anns-journal
