This week in Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden, we will be catching up with lots of routine jobs. Last week the laptop took priority as other work became really busy, distracting me from the garden. As we all know, at this time of year, when you are called away from your garden for even a couple of days, nature goes mad. Crops have grown beyond recognition and are looking a little wild.
The squash are currently trying to take over the entire garden and need pruning and tying in to their supports. The strawberries are fruiting in abundance, but also starting to send out runners which need snipping off to make sure the plants put all of their energy into fruiting. Inside the greenhouse the tomatoes are dripping in fruits that are starting to ripen, but are also bushing out and sending out huge sideshoots. These need pruning off. The runner beans have just about reached the top of their supports and need their tips pinching out to encourage lower growth and flowers.
And then there are the weeds. As always they grow faster than any other plant in the garden and can very quickly take hold. They need digging up or hoeing off – and fast!
Our comfrey patch, just outside the potting shed, has been flowering away for the past few weeks and the bees have thoroughly enjoyed it. However the plants are now huge and starting to flop over so it is time to chop it down to the ground and make a feed from it to use on our fruiting vegetables. A smelly job, but so worthwhile.
When the jobs seem endless, I find it really hard to focus on one thing. Everywhere I look there is something I need to do and I don’t quite know where to start. The trick is to make a list, in priority order, and work through it. Before you know where you are, your garden will be back in good shape again.
