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I hope that everyone is coping with the lockdown and staying well. Maybe you are making the most of the single exercise session per day or using up the half empties in the drinks cabinet on a varied range of cocktails and punches. Alternatively you could be marching on in the garden with a single minded determination to produce as much fruit and vegetables as possible this year. I have pushed ahead and hardened everything off outdoors and started planting out. A small ground frost at the end of April cost me a few seedlings and the forecast for Monday is worrying. So…..do not plant out yet, I have been too impetuous and may pay for it on Tuesday morning as there is still a chance of frost and the climbing beans are tender.
The first lettuces are potted up and a second sowing is poking their heads through. I will also do a second sowing of beetroot and work out where to plant it later. The sweetcorn is in and planted in a rectangular pattern 6 x 3 as it is pollinated by the wind which can blow from any direction. I have a lot of surplus and they will go in the herbaceous border in a 2 x 2 arrangement along with the bush French beans. The maincrop potatoes (Picasso) are also planted out and just starting to show and the earlies (Rocket) are well under way and will be ready in 5 weeks.
All the fruit is setting with a good show of Apples (Braeburn) and Pears (Beurre Hardy) and a small crop of Plums (Victoria). The plum tree is prone to biennial bearing giving one bumper year followed by a sparse year. Let the small fruits bulk up a little so that you can identify the big healthy ones and then start thinning out the small ones. Apples store quite well so I will let 50 grow to full size after the June drop. Pears need to be picked a little early and eaten when ripe, so too many will just feed the birds and the wasps. As for plums, I will take as many as I can get and they can be de-stoned and frozen. Similarly the rhubarb, what can’t be eaten can be frozen.
This attitude of “Dig for Victory” has provided me with a great excuse for ignoring the weeds in the borders, although I have made good progress in the back garden. The front garden is an ever thickening jungle of weed, Tulips and Spanish Bluebells. Once the important job of dealing with the food supply has been dealt with I will get on with the weeds… although there is bad news of a recession to come next, which might cause a delay!
We have a small frog pond in the garden that used to see some hot nocturnal action in March, but over the years the population of the resident frog colony has diminished, while the newts have flourished. So the Duchess has investigated the matter on the internet and discovered that newts predate small tadpoles. So in the spirit of conservation she has collected the spawn from the pond this year and put it in a clear plastic filing box, with oxygenating weed, a rock and a protective mesh on the top. The tadpoles are thriving well and need a bit of fresh weed from the pond to provide the algae that they feed on and some fresh water. Some will turn into little froglets after 10 weeks when the legs appear and at this point they become carnivorous. Daphnia is available from the internet but those that a slow to mature will start to get eaten, so I think that is the time to net the froglets and return them to the pond to provide much happy ribbeting next March.
Meanwhile I still have a few half empties in the drinks cabinet and my favourite punch is 1 part Bacardi, 1 part Malibu, 2 parts Orange Juice, 2 parts Pineapple Juice, 4 parts Lemonade, ice and sliced oranges and lemons. Just sit in the sun and dream of the Caribbean… this lockdown won’t last forever.
We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.
We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
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