Grant Douglas's Garden Diary

Week 26: First week of July

Lovely settled period of weather we are having at the moment, even though it is rather cold. A good opportunity to do some ground preparation for early spring planting. If you are using no-dig mulching methods in your garden, then most of the preparation wlll have been done in the Autumn so that the mulch will have time to start being incorporated naturally into the soil.

This method has lots of advantages, especially avoiding damage to the soil, which can be caused by cultivation, but the main disadvantage is most apparent at this time of year. That is the fact that if the Winter, rain and cold has penetrated your mulch, then it is very hard to raise the soil temperature as it is not exposed to the sun and wind.

For those of you who cultivate your ground, don't be tempted to do it if the ground is too wet, but even being prepared to lay some plastic over the ground in the event of rain will speed the preparation process along.

Because water temperatures are so low at the moment, you must be extra careful with watering tender seedlings, such as those very eary Tomatoes, Peppers etc that have germinated already. Don't ever water in the evening - morning is best and if you are heading for a cold, overcast day, resist watering at all.

Try to water with slightly warmed water, using an old 'pump' water bottle. This way you can water the soil and not the plants. If you over-water, the plants will not thrive and will also be more suseptible to damping-off - a disease where seedlings collapse at the base.

If you are in one of the warmer areas, you could have potatoes out now sprouting in a tray, ready for planting in early August. Sprout them in maximum light, not necessarily direct sun, and don't forget to protect them from frosts at night, by putting them under cover. For first Potatoes I choose Swift, not necessarily the tastiest, but fast (60 days), reliable and abundant. Other good early but slower varieties are Lisetta, Jersey Bennies and quite a few others - check out your local supplier.

Sowing or Planting this week:
Tomatos, Peppers, Chillie's - see earlier Diary.
Broad Beans (I am trying a new variety for me this year called Imperial Green, where the beans stay green, even after cooking)
Garlic
Lettuce (Loose-leaf Fancy and Triumph Hearting - not outside now, but in containers, in a protected place e.g. Greenhouse, veranda)
Potatoes (in trays for sprouting)
Red Onions - protect soil surface from heavy rains (Heard the other day about the use of carpet underfelt - sounds like good idea. Just get it off as soon as germination takes place)
Shallots
Spinach (winter varieties eg. Hybrid No.7) - not outside now, but in containers as above

Sow Direct: (in containers, protected as above)
Corn Salad
Mescalin Mix
Rocket

Preparation of beds for Strawberries and Asparagus.

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