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Showing posts with label
Upchurch Horticultural Society.
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Showing posts with label
Upchurch Horticultural Society.
Show all posts
SEPTEMBER SHOW
Upchurch Horticultural Society will be holding their September Show on
Saturday 11th September 2021 in the Barn to the rear of
97 Chaffes Lane
Open to the public at 2:00pm
Sale of produce at 3:40pm
Refreshments
Ample parking
Covid 19 risk assessments have been carried out.
Please wear a mask inside the Barn and observe social distancing outside - thank you.
Upchurch Matters
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
September has arrived and we transition from Summer into Autumn. The evenings are drawing in and evening temperatures are dropping, although daytime temperatures can remain warm with a chance of an Indian Summer. August turned out to be rather cool and wet which has been great for the lawn and borders which have hardly required watering but resulted in outbreaks of blight in tomatoes and potatoes. The Broad Bean crop was also affected by Chocolate Spot which is another fungal infection.
The lawn has really benefited from a wet year and is looking green and lush. The bare parts have all been “scratched and patched” with Canada Green which has germinated well. It will now take a dry year to see how drought resistant it actually is. The new “Junkyard Mutt” who arrived in March is creating small bare patches in the lawn and discovered how easy it is to dig holes in the vegetable patch. However, everyone tells me how beautiful she is so I have forgiven her. September is the month to give the lawn a final weed and feed but with a low Nitrogen (N) feed with high Phosphate (P) and Potash (K), that will prepare it for the Winter. It can also be aerated with a garden fork. I am also going to break all the advice and take a final pick of Rhubarb that has excelled this year in the cool wet conditions.
Continue taking vegetable crops and water climbing beans with a bit of Miracle Grow. Cut down the haulms of Maincrop Potatoes to avoid blight and thicken the skins before lifting. Squeeze Sweetcorn with a thumbnail and if the juice is milky it's ready to pick. Remember that Sweetcorn needs to be cooked or frozen as soon as it is picked or the flavour deteriorates very quickly. Place a bit of wood or a slate under pumpkins, squash and marrows to keep them off the soil and net brassica or else the birds will have them through the winter, Pigeons are very fond of Broccoli especially if snow is on the ground. The Turnips have germinated in the patch cleared after lifting the Broad Beans and are earmarked for Autumn casseroles along with the Parsnips that are looking particularly good this year.
The borders are flowering well with plenty of blousy pink Phlox, Echinacea, Penstemons and other perennials combined with flowering shrubs. Keep deadheading to keep the blooms coming and then divide the clumps at the end of the month to produce more next year. Prune climbing roses if they are not repeat flowering and plant Spring bulbs although hold off on Tulips for now as planting them early exposes them to disease. Keep tidying and fertilising containers to get the most out of them.
Phlox is a good border perennial, available in different colours.
A lot of varieties of Apples and Pears will be ready for harvest, although Braeburns will be next month. Pears should be picked while still a bit hard and allowed to ripen indoors before Birds and Wasps make a meal of them. Give fruit trees a Phosphate feed to strengthen roots in Autumn before they become dormant.
Our Summer excursions to village pubs continued with the George Inn in Newnham which is a good venue with a decent menu. I am also giving some thought to visiting the George and Dragon. I am looking forward to meeting George but feel a little apprehensive about the Dragon.
UHS is 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 shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Click to enlarge.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Nobody visiting the Upchurch Horticultural Society stand at Upchurch Afternoon Tea in the Village Hall on Saturday 21st August was able to answer the quiz question correctly.
Question: Which vegetables are on display?
The answer: 3 x Onions and a Gherkin... a Marrow is much larger than that!
Thanks to everyone who had a go at answering.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
We are now well into the summer and having a mix of hot sunny weather with occasional thunderstorms which is not too unusual. The garden will be reaching its peak now and regular maintenance, weeding, deadheading, watering and feeding will get the best out of it. We have been getting heavy dews in the morning which have kept things well watered, especially the lawn, however mid to late summer is normally dryer. I have kept the grass quite long this year which keeps the roots moist and so far it has paid off. There’s time to squeeze in a last high Nitrogen weed and feed in early August before the Autumn comes.
The expected Beanfest has arrived with Broad Beans, French Beans and Runner Beans in abundance. Climbing Beans need to be picked regularly and well-watered to keep the crop coming or else they will stop flowering. Broad Beans should be harvested by now with a large bag in the freezer. A lot of vegetables will be cropping now and second sowings can go in. I leave my early potatoes in the ground until needed in the kitchen but they can be lifted and stored in sacks if you want to reuse the plot. I am going to have a go at Maincrop Turnips this year which can be sown in early August for a crop by late October.
Cobra Climbing Beans, Scarlet Empire Runner Beans and
Exhibition Long Pod Broad Beans.
The borders are rampant and summer perennials and shrubs are flowering well. Tall plants need supporting and can be pruned back to bring on more growth especially Delphiniums which will flower again later in the year. The seed can be gathered now, sown and overwintered for planting next Spring. Now is also a good time to take stem tip cuttings to boost stocks for next year and it is always a good idea to keep spares of your favourite plants.
Apples and Pears should be filling out now and thinning out can be completed to leave the best on the tree to ripen. Give young trees a good watering and feed to bring them on and keep up the battle with pests. Plums, Cherries and Currants will be ready for harvest this month and can also be pruned afterwards. Summer raspberries can be cut back and strawberries tidied up and new runners planted for next year.
The tadpoles have now been released back into the pond having reached a good size in quarantine. The remaining 50 or so should stand a better chance of surviving to become adult frogs. All will become apparent next March when the adults gather in the pond for an absolutely ribbeting time.
As restrictions have lifted the Duchess and I have enjoyed frequenting the local village pubs in pursuit of new interests like the Carpenters Arms and Blacksmiths Arms. I presently have my eye on a bit of boat building and am thinking of The Shipwrights Arms at Oare Marina. However, we did enjoy an evening at the Dog and Bear at Lenham. I phoned beforehand to ask if we could bring the dog and was pleased to hear we could. The Landlord was then pleased to hear that we would leave the bear at home.
UHS is 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 shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
The wet weather in May followed by hot weather in June has brought everything on in a rush, including the inevitable weeds, which were growing at a rate of 2 feet in a week! The big ones have been pulled out to make things look better, but several hours of hand forking still lay ahead. The good news is that it has been great for the lawn which has recovered remarkably well, especially with the Canada Green seed mixed in. It is getting a high cut which makes it look lush and vigorous and holds moisture at the roots.
The planting out has been completed with inevitable casualties, so I have resorted to filling the gaps by putting seed straight into the ground. Three seeds spaced properly allow you to simply pluck the weaker ones out or provides you with extra spares. The climbing beans are all doing well and reached the top of the frame so time to pick the tops out and allow each plant to thicken up. The Broad Beans were planted at the end of March, which is quite late, but they will be ready at the same time as the Runner Beans and French Beans... so looking forward to a bean feast!
The rhubarb has also been going like the clappers as it liked the cool wet conditions this May. It needs to be well watered to keep it going, although hot weather may bring it to an end. The new potatoes are also ready, with plenty of flower, but I will wait a couple of weeks to allow them to bulk up a little while using up the last of the shop-bought Desiree.
The borders are billowing, especially with weed, and the summer perennials are starting to show. In fact, the blue Delphiniums are finishing off and the white ones just starting to come into flower. Maybe next year they will flower together, although that is probably wishful thinking. Containers and hanging baskets need a lot of attention, with watering and high potash feed. Keep them dead-headed to bring on more flowers.
The June drop is underway as fruit trees naturally jettison the weak fruit and it allows time to identify the big healthy fruits and start to pick off the small and ugly looking ones. The aphids have been rampant this year and I have effectively pruned the apple tree back to the nearest fruit. The Provanto insecticide didn’t stay on top of the pests this year so I resorted to Picket which has stopped them dead in their tracks. Unfortunately, it’s not really suitable for Broad Beans as it gets to the soft stems and leaves, so the best thing is to pick out the tops.
The tadpoles are looking well in their protected container, although the numbers seem to diminish daily. The water gets freshened up from the pond with new weed added. They remain vegetarian until the legs start to grow and then they start to eat each other, so they need to be fed with daphnia, which unsurprisingly is available on the internet.
I set about my new interest in woodworking with a visit to the Carpenters Arms at Eastling but discovered that I was more interested in a lamb joint than a dovetail joint. So I have decided to have a go at metalwork instead and booked up for the Blacksmiths Arms in Wormshill which is open at the weekends. I have been looking at village pubs on Google Maps and getting really excited at all the hobbies available although I think I already know which one will be my favourite. It’s the pub at Langley outside Maidstone.UHS is 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 shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Meetings held at 97 Chaffes Lane, starting at 7:30pm
Sponsored by: Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
July 7th - Summer Show Planning Meeting
July 18th - Summer Show
August 4th - Gardening for Wildlife
(Speaker)
September 1st - September Show Planning Meeting
September 11th - September Show
October 6th - October Show Planning Meeting
Friend or Foe (Speaker)
October 30th - October Show
November 3rd - Planning Meeting for 2022
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
SUMMER SHOW
Upchurch Horticultural Society will be holding their Summer Show on
Sunday 18th July 2021 in the Barn to the rear of 97 Chaffes Lane
Open to the public at 2:00pm
Liquid refreshments only
Ample parking
Toilets
A Covid risk assessment has been carried out.
Please wear a mask in the Barn and observe social distancing - thank you.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
I didn’t manage to get a May article written last month as the economic challenge distracted me, but given one of the coldest April’s for a while, I imagine progress in the garden was quite slow. Although some days have been wonderfully sunny we have been hindered by a persistent cold wind. A pub garden was a good alternative but it was necessary to dress for the occasion! Despite the wind, the seeds were sown, although a bit late this year. Germination has been good and the seedlings are hardening off… just need to get planted out.
The scratch and patch with Canada Green grass seed (available from Amazon) was completed and starting to come up, so hoping this will be the cure for the persistent droughts we get these days. I will give it a bit of time to get going and then give the lawn a cut.
The fine fellows from the Hideaway Nursery have erected a greenhouse for me so it’s time to get serious about propagation. It’s a bit too late for basal cuttings, but plenty of opportunity for stem tip cuttings and hardwood cuttings later in the year. Although hardwood cuttings can often go straight into the ground without needing a greenhouse. What is good is that even on a cool day, it is lovely and warm with the door closed and I can see myself spending a lot of time in there. One worrying development, though, is that the Duchess has started putting the laundry in there when it rains!
Exochorda “Pearl Bush” suitable for stem tip cuttings in summer.
We picked up some fantastic White Delphiniums, Penstemons and Tomato Plants from the Shoregate Nursery. The perennials have gone into the ground and the Tomato Plants are racing away in the greenhouse. I also noticed that the Leek seedlings planted in January are struggling in B&Q General Compost so picked up a few bags of seedling compost from Josephine which I am sure will be better.
The fruit has blossomed in time to avoid the April frost and the small fruits are forming. It is best to wait for the June drop and see what is left before thinning out. Branches on plum trees can be ripped off due to overbearing as the fruits swell and dwarf rootstock apple trees need to be supported. It is tempting to hang on to as much fruit as possible but young trees may not be able to support the weight and a bumper crop can exhaust the plant. Alternatively, simply prune back fruit trees and remove half the crop, although this is more indiscriminate. Personally, I like to pick off the small ones and let the big ones develop.
There was not much happy ribbetting from the frog pond this year, but we did get a couple of clumps of spawn. This has been collected into a separate container to allow the tadpoles to develop unhindered by predators. We tried this last year but with no apparent improvement in frog numbers… but worth another go.
June is the month when you go into maintenance routine and keep the garden looking at its best through the summer and start to enjoy outdoor living. But having said that, I am sitting here hoping that the weather will pick up as nothing much has happened yet. Definitely looking forward to restaurants and pubs opening for indoor activity. In fact, I have drawn up a list of my favourite country pubs to visit during the summer. In fact, I have decided to take up woodwork…so the first one will be the Carpenters Arms.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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Spring has arrived and there is “nowhere to run and nowhere to hide” to quote the late great Muhammad Ali who could “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”. I do not know if Muhammad was a keen gardener but he must have had an eye for Spring, he certainly had a good jab. After some promising weather in February, March turned a bit wet and cold and the early preparation work stalled a little. However, my cooking has improved and the cook’s glass has been put to good use. More recently temperatures have picked up and good progress has resumed. The Broad Beans are in along with the New Potatoes, the Leeks are well underway and a number of seeds sowed. The rhubarb has put in an appearance and everything is progressing well. April is the really busy preparation month followed by the main planting out month in May.
The lawn can have its first weed and feed of the year this month, then wait a couple of weeks before doing any scratch and patch seed repairs. Summers seem to be warmer and dryer these days and my lawn, especially, struggles each year. It looks like normal meadow grass but most years I work a bit more seed into the bare patches but it is not really improving. So, this year it will be scratch and patch with “Canada Green” which is drought resistant and hopefully, that will be the answer.
Carry on with sowing seeds either into trays or directly into the soil and aim to get the Maincrop potatoes planted by the end of the month. I couldn’t find any Picasso at B&Q this year so have gone back to Cara which is a good all-round spud. Picasso is a hybrid of Cara and in my opinion an improvement, but Cara is still a good fall back option. If you are lucky enough to have an asparagus bed you can start cutting the spears when they get to about 7” in height. Harden off seedlings but keep an eye on the weather and get them under cover if temperatures drop or there is a risk of rain.
Now is the time to get stuck into the borders and containers and get everything tidied up. Penstemons, Phlox and Chrysanthemums will be producing a lot of basal growth which is ideal for cuttings. Other perennials can be divided and plug plants ordered, although I will support the local nurseries which provide a decent range of good quality plants. I have my eye on some white Delphiniums which will contrast well with the metallic blue Belladonna plants that are now well established.
Keep an eye on the fruit as bud burst approaches and watch for early signs of pests. Top dress with compost around the trunks and start applying slow-release fertiliser.
There is a lot to be done, but before long you will be washing down the patio furniture and cleaning the BBQ. Some already have done so now that small groups can meet in the garden, although a patio heater is recommended. Things do seem to be easing and outdoor living this Summer will be very welcome. In fact, I think I am going to take our new junkyard mutt for a walk and then enjoy a Merlot on the patio as the sun sets.
The new “Junkyard Mutt”.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course LtdMarch has arrived and it’s time to get going in the garden. After the “Beast from the East” put in another unwelcome appearance, the weather has improved (at least at the time of writing) and things are looking spring-like. The first crocus to flower in the garden was on 5th February this year which is the earliest I have known. Snowdrops, Hellebores, Daffodils and Dwarf Iris have flowered and it looks like a good start to the year and hopefully a harbinger of things to come. Hopefully, you are getting jabbed (by vaccination that is, not by a Labour politician) and generally feeling much happier.
The lawn can get a bit of attention this month with scarification and possibly the first cut with the blades set high. Hold off until April before weeding and feeding and doing patch repairs with seed. Give the vegetable patch a good digging over, remove all weeds and winter debris and apply a general fertiliser. Your soil will probably be very stony as a lot of Upchurch sits on a bed of compacted stone that slopes downwards towards the Medway. Stones can be raked off, lifted with a shovel, put through a sieve to reclaim any soil and bagged up for disposal.
The Exhibition Longpod Broad Beans will be planted in March which provide a bumper crop, in fact, there are still some leftover in the freezer from last year. Also, the Rocket Early Potatoes will go in at the end of March. Dig a hole about 6” deep and fill with 3” of sieved soil mixed with compost and dry pellet manure (6X is my favourite, available from Amazon). Push the seed potato into the mix and then fill the hole with a final small fistful of manure on the top. The rain will wash that down and the tubers will start forming.
The end of March is also a good time to get the seedlings going. Moist compost is best, not too wet and keep them covered with transparent covers which can be lifted when germination starts. Label the seedling trays if your recognition is not too good. On mild days they can go outside to start hardening off or placed in a cold frame. If you didn’t manage it last month, tidy up all the borders and containers, remove weeds and leaf litter and fertilise or dig some compost into the surface. Also mulch fruit trees and berry canes.
It will be interesting to see if last year’s tadpole husbandry has produced more adult frogs as March is a month of happy ribbeting. If we get a lot of spawn this year we will probably separate some of it into a suitable container to prevent the high levels of predation in Spring. The good thing about frogs is that they like slugs and a healthy colony in the pond is good for the garden.
This time of year always causes me a frisson of excitement as things are about to start happening and life will hopefully get pleasantly busy again. A bit of high morale is starting to bubble to the surface so it’s time to finish off the Xmas Prosecco while I knock up the evening meal.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
That time of year is coming round again to start giving some thought to the garden. February is only the beginning and still a quiet month, but things get going in earnest in March. In the end Boris pooped the party at Christmas and hopefully you were all able to make something of it. We were planning to visit family and they had the food and we had the wine, so you can guess what our Christmas was like. The Duchess shot off in search of Christmas Dinner but we decided against the “last turkey in the shop” and settled for a pork joint and a long walk... oh, and I did rake up some leaves.
It’s roughly a year since Wuflu struck and we appear to be in a more difficult position than back then, although vaccines offer hope for the year ahead. For those of you who are struggling to find things to do, why not turn to the garden and grow your own. It gets you out in the fresh air, is good exercise, it can become an absorbing hobby, the garden compliments the house and you can eat well.
Aquadulce Claudia Broad Beans can be planted in February and can cope with winter conditions to get ahead a bit, but I will plant in March and go for a variety that produces a bigger crop albeit later in the year. Longbow is the Leek of choice this year and apparently has a long blanch length. This is the white section of the Leek which is best for cooking although all the leaf can be eaten. It’s just that through the winter months the green leaf on the plant starts to deteriorate and is normally cut off and put in the compost. They have been sowed in a tray of compost, placed in a warm spot and have just started to germinate. Leeks take a long time to grow to a decent size and they will be ready to eat, or exhibit if we get the chance, in October. The old maxim is “40 weeks from sow to show” This is also a good time to get onion seed going and after they germinate they like a lot of light and warmth.
Exhibition Leeks - “really serious stuff”.
Personally, I will hold off until March before really sowing seeds. If you have cold frames and can get the seedlings hardened off, then it is not too early to start, if not they can get too leggy before they can be hardened off outdoors. You can also purchase seed potatoes this month and encourage them to start sprouting (chitting) by placing them in egg trays in a warm sunny spot. B&Q do a good range and I get my Rocket (Early) and Picasso (Maincrop) from there.
Hopefully you have now pruned all your fruit trees and bare root fruit can go in this month. Also give the borders a good tidy up to show off the spring bulbs which will be showing soon. Otherwise that’s it for me, a gentle start in preparation for what comes next month. I will sharpen the hatchet and keep cutting kindling and enjoy some more time by the fire.
Now, I still have one bottle of Alborino left over from Christmas and some parsnips in the garden that have been well frosted. So it looks like a casserole and a cook’s glass. Somebody once asked “How much should you spend on a bottle of wine?” the answer, of course, is about half an hour.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Well, the year is drawing to a close and I am settled down nicely beside the fire mugging up on vegetable seeds and looking at what to buy for next year. We had the first good frost on Nov 20th so I will start to lift the parsnips and get them into the casseroles. In a surge of “Dig for Victory” euphoria back in March I planted them in the flower borders as well as the vegetable patch. The problem is the tops die down in the winter so I need to find them before it’s too late! The weather has been mild so far, so I do venture out to do a bit of tidying but winter gardening is for the weather beaten.
There are vegetable and flower seeds that can be sowed in a greenhouse to get off to a flying start in the spring, but gardening should be a leisurely pursuit not a Le Mans style mad dash. I still haven’t forgotten getting hit by a late frost in April this year and losing most of the vegetable seedlings. I am going to go with the seasons and not try to get ahead of them.
Aquadulce Claudia Broad Beans can be planted this time of year, but I will go for Exhibition Longpod in March which provides a bumper crop in August. The Cobra Climbing Beans and Scarlet Emperor Runner Beans are on the list and will go in the sunniest spot next year. Swift Sweetcorn is another must with a wonderful flavour. Gladiator is the parsnip of choice and Badger Cross for Marrows. Personally, I am looking for girth in a Marrow so it can be cut into stacks, the seeds hollowed out and then stuffed with mince and onions, bolognese, curry or chilli. A new discovery is chorizo, bacon and tomato which works well with stuffed marrow and is also great with fish. Rocket for early Potatoes which lives up to its name and Picasso for maincrop which is the best mash known to man. That leaves Leeks which I will think about for a while… this year’s were a flop! I would love to do more but can’t squeeze any more into the patch. All the berry fruits can be planted as bare roots this month as well as Raspberry canes and Strawberries.
It’s amazing how many jobs you can think up while sitting by the fire. Personally, I enjoy the break which combined with Lockdown enables me to recuperate and recharge before March comes round and it starts all over again. That’s the seed order nearly completed, next on the list is the wine order. I have discovered a curious little white wine called Alborino which has Sulphites added and makes a lovely long drink when spritzered with soda water plus the Veltliner which is halfway between a Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio and a good party wine... but will there be a party? Come on Boris don’t be a pooper otherwise we will all be raking up leaves this Xmas.
Whatever happens, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and if the worst comes to the worst we can all have a party on Zoom.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
November is on its way and hopefully, you have managed a good tidy up. October did not see an early winter after all and temperatures remained mild with a few chilly nights. Let’s hope that continues. The garden tidy up has gone reasonably well this year and it was pleasing to finally get a pick of Climbing Beans right at the end. These have now been lifted and in the compost bin. Beans can be cut off at ground level and the roots left in the ground, but this was not a good year and I will move the bean trench to the sunniest spot where it will remain permanently. The trench has been dug and filled with compost so garden and kitchen trimmings will go straight into the compost bin.
I only got one marrow this year and despite holding off for a second, none of the flowers set so that is now in the compost bin… no stuffed marrow this Easter! I lifted most of the potatoes but the milder weather has changed my mind and I will leave the remainder in the ground. They stay fresher in the ground… as long as it does not freeze! I lost a rhubarb plant this year so November is the month to divide a crown and replant.
The lawn is getting raked and kept clear of leaves and the borders are getting tidied. Still plenty of colour with the cyclamen in bloom as well. At the time of writing, we have not yet had a hard frost but this will happen soon and the Autumn flowers will get finished off. All the fruit is picked and the apples were good this year, although this has not always been good news for commercial growers. The fruits have been so large they are difficult to package and the supermarkets are rejecting them!
Insulate pots with bubble wrap or at least raise them of the ground and give evergreen hedges a final trim. If you want to keep going in the garden now is a good time to paint sheds and fences and give some thought to wildlife especially birds. There is a vast selection of different feeders available, some that favour the smaller birds which can easily be bullied off bird tables. Also clean out any nesting boxes as the blue tits will start checking them out as early as January.
With late Autumn now looming my time in the garden is drawing to a close, although quite a bit of planning to be done indoors. It is time to throw another log on the fire and start looking at the seed catalogues for next year’s vegetable varieties. There is also the wine order to think about for Xmas, assuming that Boris allows us to have one, otherwise it really will be life in a bubble.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Well, October came in with some cold weather and then turned very wet so I thought my prediction of an early Winter was right, only then to brighten up a bit. The evenings are definitely getting colder and the log fire has been lit and enthusiasm for the wet garden is waning. October is the tidy up month so I have lifted the last of the Early Potatoes and started the Runner Bean trench for next year. It will go in the sunniest part of the vegetable patch and stay there, as the Climbing Beans are not at their best in shade. The Maincrop needs to come up next and be stored in a hessian sack in a cool dark spot away from any frost. The Marrow finally produced a good fruit which was stuffed with minced beef and onions plus special ingredients to produce a decent meal, but no sign of a second one yet. Any frost tender vegetables need to be picked and stored by the end of the month. Give everything a good dig over and get the weeds out and leave the winter vegetables to stand in the ground.
Harvest frost tender vegetables.
The wet weather has done the lawn a great deal of good which with the exception of the bare patches, has greened up well. The thatch has been raked out and it looks moderately respectable. With the soil wet it is easy to aerate it with a fork which will help drainage. Edges can be repaired and a final cut performed and then it is best to keep foot traffic to a minimum to avoid compacting the soil again. Just rake up the leaves.
The borders need another weed after the rain to leave them tidy for the winter. Trim back the perennials that have finished for the year and look forward to the Autumn flowers which will be out shortly like Charm Chrysanthemums, Sedum and Nerines. The Japanese Anemones have been good this year and still flowering with Roses soldiering on past the summer. Large clumps of perennials can be divided and replanted. After a total failure last year the Delphinium and Lupin seeds from this year have germinated profusely. They will be over-wintered and planted out next Spring to increase numbers.
Hopefully you have had a bumper crop of Apples this year which are particularly large and most varieties are harvested by the end of October. Apple trees can be pruned in the winter.
Hardy gardeners will find plenty to do through the winter, but I will head indoors to resume my winter hobby of cooking. Autumn can be very cosy and it offers a bit of a break. Plans can be drawn up for next year and seeds need to be ordered. However, it has been a strange year and the future is still no clearer, so I am actually looking forward to a bit of hibernation. Stoke up the log fire, dust off the favourite recipes and fill the cook’s glass. The Duchess enjoys this time of year as well, as she likes my cooking, unless of course the cook’s glass gets filled too often.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
As we move into September the evenings and mornings are certainly getting nippy, but the day time temperatures are lovely and we are being promised an Indian summer. Personally, I take that sort of talk with a pinch of manure and still haven’t forgotten Gordon Brown’s BBQ summer. I believed him, got the BBQ out and watched it go rusty. This year actually reminds me of 2008, which may not have been too memorable, other than the fact that Autumn arrived at the start of October and produced a cold winter. The fruit seems early this year, the pears are picked, and the apples are huge. My Braeburns are a month early, there is a mass of berries and the starlings are starting to flock together. There is always talk of hard winters at this time of year but there may be some truth in it this year.
My poor lawn has been clobbered again this year, just when it had almost recovered from a couple of years ago. It's greening up again after the summer but will need a lot of scarifying with a spring tyne rake to get the dead thatch out. I gave it an Autumn weed and feed with low Nitrogen (N) and high Phosphate (P) and Potassium (K) which will help to strengthen the roots through the winter. In a previous house, I dug up the lawn and re-seeded it with Canada Green. This is a mix of Red Fescue, Rye and Kentucky Bluegrass. It produced a thick mat of vigorous grass that was drought resistant but needed a lot of cutting. So that’s the plan for next year.
I finally managed to weed the borders recently after two years and they do look bare, although the spring bulbs will hopefully provide a good show. The perennials from a “local nursery” have taken well and provided more colour and the dahlias are looking good despite a couple of casualties. The plug plants did not do well, but really need to be raised under glass. The Duchess threw me out of the conservatory this spring to make room for her house plants so I need to get a greenhouse.
In my fervour to face up to pandemic, I tried to get ahead of nature in the vegetable patch this Spring and got caught by a late frost. The climbing beans have come to nothing and a late sowing just hasn’t made it in time. A solitary marrow has struggled into growth and I am patiently waiting for the first stuffed marrow of the year. Curiously the sweetcorn survived but has produced a lot of small cobs which have ripened but are half bald! Potatoes have been excellent along with the broad beans which this year were Exhibition Longpod. A mass of beans but no opportunity to exhibit them.
Earlier in the year, I noticed that my plums were oozing a clear resin so when it came to harvest I opened them up for signs of sawfly. Some were maggoty but not all, so I do not think that this indicates a parasite. All the plums that were infected had a neat little hole in them about 1mm wide where the larvae had burrowed their way in.
Next month is the big tidy up and this year I am going to lift the potatoes, just in case. The log store is full with plenty of kindling and I will steadily retire from the garden. There are parsnips in the ground waiting for the first hard frost to sweeten them up and a late sowing of leeks to go in because I lost those as well. It’s been a strange year and still strange and it is difficult to predict where all this is leading. Hopefully, things will get back to normal, the pandemic will pass and we can all enjoy a good Xmas. But one thing I will do is always making sure that I drink from a clean glass and remember to take the mask off.
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
Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
July has arrived, summer is under way and the weather has turned exceedingly average. Things are steadily returning to normal but there is an undercurrent of concern about what the future holds, but one thing is certain, the weeds will still grow. Hopefully you have managed to light the BBQ and enjoy a few evenings in the garden although it is still a bit cool.
Watering, deadheading, pruning and fertilising are the main priorities to keep everything at its best... and of course weeding! I have made a start on the front garden but struggling with enthusiasm. The borders look so much better for it but I can always find something better to do. As the early shrubs finish flowering, prune out the older branches (the ones with the most sub laterals) or pollard the entire plant and start again, is does them good especially if the flower is becoming sparse. The cooler weather suits the lawn but keep it watered and green and take this opportunity to apply a final high Nitrogen (N) weed and feed to see it through to the Autumn.
The vegetable patch should be in full swing with so much ready for harvest and second sowings to be planted out. Potatoes have done well this year with a bumper early crop and the maincrop flowering and looking healthy. All my beans are late this year, but the broad beans are getting close and the climbing beans are starting to flower, I think they will all come at once. The rhubarb has produced well again although recent hot weather has set it back. Plenty of water and cool weather should produce another pick and I will ignore the stop picking in July rule, I picked until August last year and it hasn’t weakened them at all.
The June drop is now over so see if fruit needs a final thinning to increase the size of the final crop. Watch out for all the pests and diseases, pick out the tips of lateral branches if they are starting to wither and lightly prune apples, cherries and plums. Give them a good watering and feed along with the raspberries which are shallow rooted and tend to dry out.
I have noticed that a lot of my plums are oozing a clear resin so have resorted to Google to try and find the reason.
Unfortunately the advice is a bit inconclusive. Some say it is just excess pectin which means the plum will make good jam. Others say that it is due to dry roots and needs a good watering. What is worrying is that some articles say that it is sawfly which will render the fruit inedible and if allowed to fall to the ground will allow the grub to go into the soil and pupate into next year’s sawfly. I have picked one plum and found nothing so I will give the tree a good watering and allow them to ripen and then we will see.
Anyway it’s the Fourth of July and the pubs have opened, although I will give them a miss for a couple of weeks until the heaving sigh of national relief has passed. Instead I will celebrate the independence of the colonies from the comfort of my own home. We recently managed to settle up our war debt with our American allies, although I discovered that we never fully settled up our debt from the first war. That gives me something to celebrate and can be considered as fair recompense for all that unpaid tea tax… cheers Mr President.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
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Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd
Well, things are starting to ease, the lockdown is lifting and people are getting back to some semblance of normality. The great hope now is that this does not prove to be a false dawn and we all get locked down again. I am sure that, like me, a lot of people have had time to reflect on things and I have certainly enjoyed some of the quiet moments over the last 10 weeks or so. The world did literally stop and we had the chance to get off... and I liked it. But the time has come to start returning to the rat-race but hopefully with a better attitude.
The cold snap at the beginning of May didn’t cause much damage in the South East so hopefully you have got all the planting out completed. I lost virtually all my French Beans at the end of April so put seed straight into the ground and they are coming up again. The Runner Beans pulled through and are heading off up the strings… a good lesson learnt… I tried to get ahead of nature!! Everything else in the vegetable patch is doing fine and I managed to squeeze in all the sweet corn seedlings. Hopefully you are taking salad crops so keep resowing and keep them coming. Pinch out side shoots on Tomatoes and keep everything well watered.
Fruit should be swelling up by now but wait for nature to thin it out in June before doing a final thinning of the smaller ones in July. Cherry and Plum trees can be lightly pruned at this time of year. The pests will be out in force so start spraying or just rubbing them out with your fingers or else they can get out of control. Peg down strawberry runners for next year’s plants. Apply a high Potash feed to bring on the fruit.
The lawns are starting to brown again after a dry May and you can’t rely on a morning dew, so give them a bit of water to keep them moderately green. Wait until after some rain has fallen before applying another weed and feed and avoiding cutting the grass short in a hot summer.
I can triumphantly state that I have finally got the back garden borders cleared and tidied and started reorganising plants and bulbs… sadly I still have the front garden to deal with. I have decided to discard some of the more feeble Daffodil bulbs and cull the Spanish Bluebells which are taking over, pulling them together into fewer and smaller clumps. Primroses have been divided and spread around and the snowdrop seeds have been collected and selectively planted. The top growth of spring flowers can be cleared this month to make way for the summer perennials that should be budding up. I bought plug plants this year, having given up on seed, but less than half of them have made it. So it was a visit to a local nursery and a decent selection of well established perennials, which were actually cheaper than the plug plants!
Everything should be well watered as we head towards summer, especially containers that can dry out very quickly. Also a high potash feed will keep everything flowering. Roses have got off to a great start this year and I do not believe in the Chelsea chop. For those who do, it will take a bit longer, but this gives a better summer show… so they say.
It’s time to start planning the outdoor living and to take satisfaction in all the gardening that’s gone into getting to this point. Dust off the BBQ and stock up on marinades. I had developed a liking for Mexican lagers recently, Corona I think it was called... but can’t find it anywhere.
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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
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