This week in the Kitchen Garden, we have been watering, feeding, watering and watering some more! All our crops are enjoying the current late spring heatwave, but the soil is drying out and there is no rain forecast for the next few days at least. Many of our young plants have only just been planted out and need a good supply of water to help their roots spread.
I am always an advocate of growing plants hard, rather than spoiling them with too much ‘artifical’ rain. This engourages their roots to reach down to deeper water supplies in the soil rather than relying on surface water. For plants in the ground, such as brassicas and potatoes this will mean a thorough soaking once a week and only if no rain has fallen. Crops grown in raised beds will dry out a little quicker, but we add liners and mulch to help them cope on their own.
However, in the early stages of their development, all our young plants will need watering to become established. So this week we will be out with the watering cans and hoses to make sure they are kept happy and grow on quickly
Our early potatoes are now a good size, so this week we will be earthing them up. This should encourage more tubers to grow on the stem beneath the soil.
We will also be appyling our second dose of Nemaslug of the season. Experts say that this year will be a bumper year for slugs and snails so we aren’t taking any chances!
