“My cucurbits aren’t producing fruit “, I hear you cry. I feel your pain, it’s happened to me. Cucumber, melon, courgette (marrow), squash, gourd and pumpkin, are all members of this delicious, watery, succulent family.

Back in the Spring, you took those curiously flat, oval seeds and started them off in pots. You even planted them on their side so that excess water could run off them, improving their chances of germination. You lovingly transplanted them into their growing position when weather and season permitted; a well- drained, fertile sunny spot. You tenderly cared for them, making sure they didn’t get thirsty. You removed caterpillars from them by hand, protected them from every mollusc in the neighbourhood – because word is out – they know there’s a party going on in your garden! In return for your kindness, they put out plenty of fleshy, verdant growth. And then, you could hardly contain your excitement, as you saw the first blousy yellow flower appear. Like a good veggie grower, you’ve planted plenty of insect attractant plants around them to give the flowers the best chance of being pollinated because you know the window of opportunity is small. You waited….and waited…waited some more ….and …nothing! More lush flowers; still nothing.  Ah, the curse of the cucurbits!

Cucurbits produce both male and female flowers. Boys come first. The more mature the plant is, the more likely it is to grow some girls. It’s the girls that need to be pollinated to grow your lovely fruit. For that you need the pollen to be transferred from the boy. So, yep! You guessed it. It takes two to cucurbit! So, how do you know which one is male and which one is female? Easy! Mrs C has a miniature fruitlet sitting just behind the flower.  Mr C doesn’t.

A young plant will initially put out mostly male flowers. One way to encourage it to produce more girls is to -sorry about this, guys- remove some of the boys. The plant somehow gets the message and starts producing more girls. However, don’t go crazy, this is not a cull! Leave some boys because you need them to pollinate the girls when they grow and she will only be open for a couple of days. This is why you grew all those lovely insect attractant plants nearby! You can pollinate the flowers by hand by taking a male flower off the plant, removing the petals (from smaller flowers such as those produced by the melon), and rubbing the pollen bud around the inside of the female. It’s a bit fiddly but it can help increase your chances of fruit being formed.  One male flower can be used to pollinate 3-4 females. I’ve only ever needed to use this hand pollination method for my melon plants growing in the greenhouse.

As the fruit swells and gets heavier it may need some kind of support. Large squashes, melons and pumpkins growing on the ground can be supported by purchasing cradles that allow the air to circulate around the plant and for it to grow evenly. For larger fruits growing vertically you may need to provide a ‘sling’ to prevent their weight breaking the stem of the plant. Old tights or netting is ideal for this. Be as creative as you like!

Once the fruit has started to swell, feed the plant every 10-14 days with a liquid feed high in potassium/potash; such as tomato feed, and continue to make sure the plant doesn’t experience drought. You can remove some of the larger leaves around the fruit to let the sun do its job of ripening. Harvest fruits by cutting them off the plant with stem attached and enjoy – throw your head back and laugh – delighting in the knowledge that you have overcome the curse of the cucurbits!

That’s the often repeated mantra that echoes throughout my garden at the moment! The visiting blackbirds seem very tame; I can get ridiculously close to them. One clever couple have raised triplets and bring them to the redcurrant bush to feast on. I don’t mind; there are plenty. But when they move onto my blueberries it’s another story. It’s as if they know they can be difficult to grow. They won’t keep their bird lips off! The thing about a wildlife garden is that it attracts wildlife.  My brassica seedlings have been replaced three times because some critter keeps eating them. So rude! The critter tried to move into the hen pen but it was informed it had been eyeballed, and its’ plan for hen pen domination has been thwarted.

Talking of the girls– all but one of my lovely rescue hens that I got last year have died, so I have 4 newbies. It’s a bit like the Montagues and Capulets down there; each group sticking to their own end and occasionally clashing over food in the middle. Their noisy protestations make them sound like they need oiling!

The garden has been quietly growing (when critters and birds allow), although it seems a bit behind everyone else’s. Even so, the dinner table has been graced with beans, peas, potatoes, leeks, cucumbers, salads, radishes, cauliflower, cabbages, spinach, spring onions, and carrots. And for desert; strawberries, gooseberries, blueberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and rhubarb. Onions, shallots and garlic are curing in the wood store – yes, the wood store – where else would one cure one’s alliums? The tomatoey madness is yet to come but the plants are healthy with flowery promise and there’s much laughter to be heard as they’re given a good tickle. 

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It took me a long time to figure out just how busy I should be in the garden in July, because it seems, in some respects, as if the growing season is starting to slow down. The long lazy days of summer make you feel long and lazy! July is sometimes known as our second spring, due to the fact that there are many seeds that can be sown now, many transplants to plant in situ, and it actually is a very busy month. Lots to do to prepare for the late autumn and spring harvests. The weather here is currently hair frizzing – 90 degrees in the greenhouse by 9:00am.  And yet in the cooler evenings you can almost smell the forthcoming transition of seasons in the air.

You can directly sow Autumn King carrots, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Purple Kale, and all manner of salad leaves; such as quick heading lettuces, winter purslane, endive, oriental leaves, mibuna and chicory. Why not multi sow beetroots such as Boltardy, turnips such as Snowball and start yet more radishes, peas, spring onions, French beans, spring cabbages, kohl rabi, and fennel? Leek transplants need to be in by the end of the month, together with Brussels sprouts, winter cabbages, autumn cauliflowers and sprouting broccoli seedlings.

There really isn’t such a thing as a lazy summer when it comes to growing your own. As well as all the above; there’s weeding, feeding, watering, harvesting, pruning, and training to keep on top of. There are wars to fight – soil borne diseases, airborne diseases, pests and critters. Cats sitting on your seedlings or using your raised beds as giant litter trays; birds to scare as you wrestle them for your blackcurrants; slugs and snails partying on your greens; black fly, green fly and variations on a theme. There’s food to harvest, cure, store and preserve and July is the month to do it all in!

Cherry and plum trees are pruned now – not in the winter. Apple and pears need to be thinned out to allow each fruit to grow to a reasonable size. Blackcurrants can be lightly pruned, and following your harvest of summer raspberries, cut the canes that had borne fruit down to the ground.

August will hopefully allow for some relaxation, be it a staycation or a vacation. See you then with cuppa in hand.

This time last year I woke up with an idea.

Life had radically changed for all of us; around two months into the first long lockdown, unable to work and, for me an added threat of redundancy was looming. Now, I am a thinker but I’m also a doer. Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just do. The weather was glorious so I painted everything that had the misfortune to be in my way (sorry cats). The garden was weeded, hoovered, tidied and peacefully growing at its own pace. I had repaired things, decluttered the house, chopped up wood for the winter and rearranged the hen pen. I had tidied the shed and, like so many, I had even had a go at making sourdough bread – we’ll say no more about that!

Then I stopped. What next? With nothing to do and no-one to see, I’d run out of purpose and was genuinely beginning to run out of hope. Looking at the long term forecast, I couldn’t see the way ahead – no income, desperately limited social contact, others in my life suffering, and no inkling of how things were going to improve.

A year ago – to the day – Groceries from the Garden was born. Writing it helped to keep me sane, gave me reason and construct to my days and now it’s an experience bookable through AirBnB / or by contacting me on isa@groceriesfromthe.garden

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/experiences/2161722?checkin=2021-04-10&currentTab=experience_tab&federatedSearchId=2cb37d80-8631-43a3-8f25-6323b92c1fd1&searchId=&sectionId=06b76335-be8f-4fbf-af33-95dc2247dcba&source=p2

I got my mojo back. But what a difference a year makes.

In the garden, this spring has proved to be a challenge for those of us who don’t have a heated green house. Seedlings have struggled with the fluctuating temperatures; so much so that this is the difference 12 months has made:

But there’s hope! Sometimes you have to create it or at least play a part in its creation. I can’t change the weather to help my seedlings but I can do my best for them. So, during the day 100 tomato babies have basked in the greenhouse and in the evening they have been dutifully transported to the kitchen. I’m confident they can survive the nights in the greenhouse now. Things will improve for them and they’ll soon catch up.

This month you can sow just about any and every veg seed you want to grow. I didn’t sow my parsnips and carrots until the beginning of the month and they’re now peeking through the soil. Sometimes it’s worth holding back. Salad crops can be sown directly into their growing areas. May is known as the growing month. Things other than your delicious veggies and flowers will be growing rapidly too so if it’s a weed in your veggie patch, get rid of it. If you can hold off mowing your lawn (no mow May), and allow dandelions and daisies to grow, the bees will be for ever in your debt and will reward you by pollinating your plants. There’s much to do but don’t forget to simply enjoy the garden. As you plant your veggies, consider the hope that you have participated in creating and the difference a year makes! See you in June.

This time I won’t shout. Promise.

My poor delicate seedlings don’t know whether to wear fur lined boots or open toed sandals. In the greenhouse they bask in 80 degrees centigrade during the day and shiver in minus 1 at night.  Such extreme fluctuations have led to a dozen of my tomato seedlings giving up in their confusion. They have ‘damped off’.

This is a term used for when a seedling collapses and dies following attack by a soil borne disease – usually a fungus. The fungus is caused by damp conditions and is particularly problematic in Spring when light levels and temperatures are still low.  Of course, I’m also going to apportion some blame to the lockdown too, as I hadn’t been able to buy any vermiculite to add to the sowing compost. Vermiculite adds drainage and helps to prevent the shallow roots from becoming water logged.  Their demise had absolutely nothing to do with me being way too eager and sowing too early!

No other seedlings were harmed in the writing of this blog and I do still have about 100 tomato babies left– I can’t help myself; I have a problem, I know! At the opposite end of the spectrum; broad beans, garlic, onions and shallots are as resilient as resilient things and thriving in situ. Snow and frost haven’t fazed them.