Stephanie's Garden Blog

The long August Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and the forecast in our area is for hot and sunny weather. Crops are ripening ready for picking in vast quantities and we are in the throes of our annual bean glut.

One of our team has really taken their work home with them this year. Some great pictures of their latest harvest and lots of other plants doing really well

Like many gardeners at this time of year, I am taking a much-needed holiday which will mean a week away from the garden. August is the perfect time for a holiday but the worst time to leave the garden as it is such a busy part of the growing year; the greenhouse needs watering daily, plants in pots need watering at least every other day in sunny weather and crops need harvesting to keep them productive.

We are at that stage in the Kitchen Gardening year where there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. The watering and feeding regime is still at its peak despite summer showers helping us out. The weeds have slowed down their growth a little, but still require regular attention. And the harvest is now occupying much of our time; picking beans and berries, tomatoes, aubergines, and many other delicious crops.

The summer harvest continues in earnest this week in Stephanie?s Kitchen Garden and spaces are beginning to appear in our vegetable beds. We have already dug the garlic and shallots up and they are currently drying in the sunshine.

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Garden pests that we are on the look-out for this week are butterflies and white fly. The broccoli and sprout plants are now a really good size and we are being vigilant to make sure the netting on the vegetable cage doesn't touch any leaves, allowing butterflies to lay their eggs through it.

It's time for a spot of tidying up in Stephanie's Kitchen Garden. The hot summer weather, combined with irrigation and recent heavy rain have sent plants into a growth spurt, in particular our espalier fruit trees. We would normally be pruning these during August, but they have put on so much growth that we are going to tackle the job now.

This week we will be sowing more vegetable seeds to grow plants to fill the holes that the harvest creates. We will soon be harvesting our early potatoes and our remaining broad beans which will open up more much needed growing space. We will be sowing winter cabbages, pak choi, chard, kohl rabi, spinach and broccoli.