Disaster has struck at the Harrod Horticultural HQ garden - the courgettes have white powdery mildew! The leaves are smothered in the white powder, turning the leaves yellow and causing the courgettes to rot and drop off.
The courgettes have had a bit of a difficult life - early in the season a lot of the plants overheated and wilted in the greenhouse but some looked to make a comeback.
They seemed to be doing well after we planted them out in our raised bed and we have harvested quite a few courgettes, but the speed the mildew has taken over this last week has been remarkable.
Courgettes always tend to succumb to powdery mildew in the end, but this seems to have happened in just one week!
So our marrogettes (overgrown courgettes that look like marrows!) that we harvested last week look to be the last courgettes we will get to eat from the garden this year.
On a more positive note the Chantenay carrots are looking fantastic, the carrot fly screen has really protected them and should be harvesting these soon.
We have also made a frame for the cucumbers and the plants now have flowers on. This frame uses our slot and lock connectors and aluminium tubing to create a frame for the cucumbers to grow up and support the fruit off the soil. It's our first go at cucumbers outside of the greenhouse so fingers are crossed we get some fruit.
Although we haven't got any fruit trees yet at Harrod Horticultural HQ (one for next years wishlist!) now is the time to give apple and pear trees a summer prune. This article on Pruning Fruit Trees has got some great tips and advice and well worth a read, with step by step advice it might really help your harvests this year!
Happy Gardening!
