Page 47 - Simply Vegetables Summer 2023

was applied earlier can now be removed.
It is a good idea to tidy up the strawberry
bed by removing dying leaves and any rubbish that has collected among the plants.
If you wish to plant any new fruit trees or bushes, there are always plenty in garden centres, in pots. These can be planted any time. However, you get a better choice
of varieties by ordering from specialist suppliers. They will arrive by post and
will be bare rooted. These can only be planted during the dormant season, from November onwards. The reason I am telling you about them now is time to be ordering them. So, send for some catalogues or
look online for them. You will have time to prepare the ground for them. Fork it over, removing all weeds and incorporating some organic matter , rotted manure or compost.
If you are growing marrows, pumpkins and squashes, put something under
the fruits to keep them off the ground, using any suitable material. If you have cauliflowers developing, bend the leaves over the curds to shade them from the sun. You should also cut down the ferny foliage on asparagus . More will grow in spring. It is also a good idea to give the bed a mulch of garden compost.
In previous months I have said that
you should continue on the lookout for pests, and this should continue. One pest
I haven’t mentioned recently though are earwigs. They particularly like flowers such as dahlias and Chrysanths and nibble holes in the petals. They feed at night and hide away in the daytime. Some people put plant pots filled with straw on top of the canes to trap them. They also hide in the hollow canes. I have a washing up bottle containing paraffin and put a few drops down the hollow canes. The earwigs climb out of the canes and fall to the ground, dead. Yes, as quick as that!
Another thing to do in the flower garden is to keep cutting flowers to put in vases in the house. As well as dead heading, as I mentioned earlier , this also encourages flowers to produce more. Also, if you grow perennials and have congested clumps, this is a good time to lift and divide them.
Two marrows
Break the clumps up with two forks back to back or just do it by hand if it is easy . Fork some more compost in the ground first.
I said last month that you should have plenty to harvest this is still the case and most of those mentioned should still be available. The maincrop potatoes should be ready now. I suggested in June that you dig up potatoes when you need some but now, you may want to dig them all up and store them and this is what I do. It is often recommended to store potatoes in paper sacks (never plastic). They need to be looked at regularly to see that they are still O.K. If any are showing signs of rot, remove them to protect the rest. I keep mine in large supermarket trays because they
are easier to keep my eye on than if they were in sacks. They need to be kept in the dark, or they will turn green, making them unusable so I keep mine in what used to be the coal shed at the side of the house.
You may have apples and pears ready for harvesting to test if they are ready, just give them a gentle twist . If they don’t come off the tree easily, leave them a few more weeks. Apples picked now don’t store as well as later varieties so use them right away.
Spray chrysanths on allotment
Now a job that I look forward to every year, choosing seeds for next year. This is the month when most seed firms send out their main catalogues. Some firms send out more catalogues in the spring, but I always choose my seeds now. I first make a list of seeds that I have left then see what I still need. Most seeds will keep two or three years if kept dry, except parsnips which should be ordered fresh every year. Any seeds older than this are thrown out.
Carrots harvested
Climbing French beans Rob Roy (Robinsons)
Potatoes harvested from six tubs
Simply Vegetables 47