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Midsummer is rapidly approaching and the weather is warm and damp, and everything is flourishing. The internet is talking about apocalyptic hot weather on the way, but at the moment all is well in the garden. The Junkyard Mutt gets a walk each morning and evening, which allows me to watch what is going on around the farms. The local fields of wheat have largely been harvested and planted up again with either maize or sugar beet. The farming up here is intensive, and very little is allowed to go to waste, but then the soil is very good. The fields are large, and farming is definitely the biggest industry in this area.
The lawn appears to be improving but definitely needs a second high-nitrogen weed and feed. There are still a lot of weeds in it, but the wetter weather is doing a lot of good. Regular cutting with the blades high is helping it to improve, but it will need some serious attention to get it halfway to being decent. For now, I am happy with that and will take the long-term view as there are more important things to tackle in the garden.
The vegetable patch has been going well, and although everything was sown and planted later than normal this year, the crop is earlier than usual. I can only put it down to the quality of the soil and stress how important soil preparation is. The soil in the back garden has probably never been cultivated before and is a fertile clay loam. Everything has been planted in pre-dug trenches and pockets that have been refilled with a mixture of sieved soil and well-rotted compost. The Broad Beans have produced a bumper crop in excellent condition, which will store happily in the freezer for up to 6 months. That provides a good option for a “seasonal vegetable” up to the middle of January. Some vegetables will store frozen with little loss of quality, whereas others need to be eaten fresh. The first Marrow of the year has also been picked in July, and hopefully, the last will come in October. They will comfortably store in a cool, shady, dry spot for 3 months, providing another “seasonal vegetable” from July to January. The Early Potatoes are being harvested and I went for a salad potato this year called Charlotte. These will be taken fresh up until the end of October when the Maincrop will be ready for lifting and should last until February. The aim is to achieve self-sufficiency in seasonal vegetables and to propagate from seed. Everything then becomes fully sustainable from nature… I just need to put in the labour.
Broad Bean Harvest - First Marrow in July.
The Duchess is still slaving away in the cottage garden, battling to retrieve an overgrown plot of land. It is dominated by a large Sumac that has thrown up numerous suckers that require digging and breaking away from the main roots. Most of the shrubs have needed serious pruning to get them back within bounds, and the weeds are rampant. She will be waging that war for a long time to come. The back garden is a little better, but all the borders need clearance and are overrun with Day Lilies. We haven’t started on the containers, most of which are broken and rotten. It’s a question of salvaging the good stuff and discarding the rest.
There are a lot of period cottages up here in Suffolk, which is a county of villages. Ipswich and Lowestoft are the only big towns. There are a number of small market towns and hundreds of villages. As such, the villages are still a vibrant community. Stradbroke is smaller than Upchurch, but there is a Butcher, Baker, Community Centre, Library, Post Office, Sports Centre and Pool etc. Property is available, especially the cottages that need a bit of work, as most people want places that are already done up. It is also cheaper than Kent, and a modest property in the SE can get you something more substantial up here with money to spare. The pubs are still old village haunts and unchanged for decades. We recently visited the Huntingfield Arms near Laxfield and had a home-cooked cottage pie with seasonal vegetables for £9.50 and a good laugh with the Landlord. The ale in the Green Dragon in Bungay costs £3.20 per pint, and he has just put the prices up.
It's like stepping back in time, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a more rural life.
UHS is always looking for new members and tries 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 shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Membership Secretary Tracy Wells: upchurchsociety@gmail.com
Sean Barry
