My Strawberries are almost ready to ripen. They’re quite big but still green. It was mid June by the time we were eating Strawberries last year and what with the set back earlier in the year it could be later than that this year.
I just hope they ripen before we go on holiday! Arghhh! the thought of Strawberries going to waste makes me faint. Basically, I just want the garden to stop, stop everything, while we sit on a beach for a while and then when we get back everything can start again. I’m asking too much, aren’t I?
I actually tried to grow Sweet William last year. I sowed the seed, the plant came up and grew quite well but never flowered. It then didn’t die back over Winter. So I left it in the ground, through all the snow and frost and wet. Then in early Spring it started to grow again and now I have row upon row of beautiful flowers, poised to open at the first sign of sun.
On further reading I found that if you plant from seed in year one then you will actually get flowers in year two. Doh! should have realised that last year. But in any case I’m delighted with my raft of free cut flowers. Expect Sweet William in every room in the house very soon!
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It’s about this time of year that I start to fuss and worry about blight on my Tomatoes. I’ve never really been able to relax since The Year the Tomatoes Died. So I thought I would re-publish this little article that I wrote last year for the Guardian Gardening blog. I will be doing all of this again this year, come rain or shine :)
When I first starting vegetable gardening in 2005 growing Tomatoes was a doddle, a breeze. Just bung in the plants, water them a bit, feed them a bit and ta-da! right on que at the end of August you’d be eating your own home-grown tommies.
Not anymore. Over the last few years, our summers have been, well, disappointing. And if we’re deluged in rain again this year it means one thing; that growing outdoor Tomatoes in the UK will be more of a battle with wind and rain in an effort to avoid the dreaded…gulp… blight.
As most will know, Tomato blight is a nasty disease that starts with small brown patches on stalks and leaves but soon progresses to the fruits.
If I had a greenhouse I’d take my Tomatoes under cover. But since I don’t have that option (and frankly the thought of ‘not’ growing Tomatoes makes me feel a little nauseous) then there’s only one thing for it – to fight.
Here’s my plan.
- Grow (or buy) vigorous, healthy plants.
- Don’t plant Tomatoes in the same spot as last year.
- Plant disease-resistant varieties (Ferline, for example)
- Remove the bottom leaves up to the first truss of fruits to avoid splash back
- Remove and destroy all plant waste after the growing season
- Avoid watering on to the leaves. Water directly to the roots and don’t handle plants when the vines are wet.
- Control weeds in and around the plants. Weeds serve as hosts for insects and disease.
- Control pests (particularly aphids) which may transmit disease from plant to plant.
- Remove plants as soon as the tell-tale brown patches are seen. Wash hands and tools with a detergent after handling affected plants.
- Choose a sunny location and provide a removable rain cover if possible.
- Pray (or at least ask the rain gods to take pity on me).
So there you have it my 10 – err 11 point plan. If anyone has any more suggestions then please post them in the comments. When fighting Mother Nature you need all the weapons you can get.
The Tayberry that I planted back in March has flowered and is now setting fruit! I hadn’t anticipated seeing fruit this early. I thought they would come at the same time as the Raspberries which are only just budding up. But they must be earlier in general.
I haven’t really done anything to the bush since I put it in. I have watered it a bit because the pot is quite close to the wall and sometimes misses the rain. But apart from that the plant has done everything itself.
There must be around eight or nine Tayberries on the bush and I can’t wait to taste them. I’m going to wait until they’re mega ripe to pick them so I get the full flavour. Under gardener is worried that the birds will take them (he’s still traumatized by what happened to the Blueberries last year) but I don’t think this will be a problem since the birds don’t go for the Raspberries and it’s a similar situation.
Does anyone have experience with a Tayberry – do I need to net against the birds?
