My Garden: 16th July

July is a lovely time of the year in the garden and the sunshine has been generous this year. There is plenty to eat but I must keep reminding myself not to neglect the sowing of future crops in order to avoid a sudden end to my bounty. This year I have introduced more long season crops - leeks and purple sprouting broccoli, along with my usual two brussels sprouts plants - to ensure a winter harvest.

We have been boiling beetroot for a few weeks. It is a real shame that beetroot has such a bad reputation from it's common disguise jarred in vinegar. The unadultrated root is so mild and earthy and really deserves to be as common as the carrot, being that it is so easy to grow and so suited to our climate.

The young leaves are a superior salad vegetable and the older leaves can be shredded and cooked in butter and garlic.





My first time [successfully] growing broccoli is a learning experience. So used to the firm heads in the supermarket, my looser heads were beginning to flower before I realised it was time to harvest. I should have cut the head when it looked like this:

No harm done thought, the steamed broccoli was without a doubt the best I have ever tasted. In fact, dinner that night came almost predominantly from the garden:

I am hopeful for a good harvest from my six tomato plants. If you recall, the plants suffered a lot when the were first left outside. Some plants were reduced to a stalk. They came back with vigour, thanks to the long season of sunshine this year. Care for the plants includes picking off side shoots (they could probably be thinned some more but I am taking a chance), mulching the soil (they are in pots) with comfrey leaves and feeding with comfrey tea as well as regular watering. I tend to give the plants a really good drowning. Recently, I moved them into slightly bigger pots, approximately 9".

This is my year for brassicas. I have about 16 plants, with a variety of broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprout and cabbage. The slug and caterpillar damage has been surprisingly minimal. I am collecting slugs by hand and squishing the bright yellow eggs lain by the cabbage white butterfly on the underside of the leaves. I have also mulched around the plants with comfrey leaves, which are apparently appetising to slugs, in the hope of distracting them from the plants.