Grant Douglas's Garden Diary

Week 27: Second week of July

In my opinion, the two crops that are commonly grown at home, that are distinctively different in flavour from those purchased in the shop, are Strawberries and Carrots. Nothing beats a freshly picked Strawberry and our grandson won't eat carrots, unless they come from his Poppa's garden.

Have you cleaned up your old strawberry plants yet? Now is the time to remove all old leaves, flowers and any remnants of diseased fruit so that they are taken right back to just a small crown. The biggest disease problem with Strawberries is Botrytis (a fruit-mould caused by moisture) and so the material you have cut off should be well-removed from the patch.

Some people put on a copper spray at this time of year, but I'm not sure if it's really necessary, as it's more of a preventative, than clean-up spray.

Feed them up well before the Spring with a mixture of blood and bone and sulphate of potash (handful per square metre) and a good dollop of compost or well-rotted manure. Don't mulch yet, wait until the ground has warmed up a bit.

If you are new to Strawberries and are putting in your first patch, they prefer a slightly acid soil that retains moisture (lots of organic matter) and as much of the day time sun as they can possibly get. They are good planted in beds, ie 4 rows 30cm apart with 25 cms between the plants. A couple of dozen plants will give a good feed for the average family. Planting them on ridges, has the advantage of keeping excess moisture away from the plants.

As I said before, the biggest problem is Botrytis rot in the fruit, so a drip irrigation system is an advantage over overhead watering, and in fact if you can put a well-ventilated cloche (you don't want a build up of humidity) over them to keep the rain off, this is also a good idea.

Most people mulch their Strawberries both for moisture retention and to keep the actual fruit off the soil and thus prevent the rot. The mulch can be of permanent material such as black plastic or weed-matting but the disadvantage of this is that as you may be keeping the plants for up to three years (replacing a third of your patch each year is a good idea), you cannot do an annual feeding of organic matter. Other mulch materials are straw, and one of the oldest, pine-needles which Strawberries seem to really appreciate. The disadvantage of organic mulch is that it rots down and will stay wet longer, and so perhaps rot the fruit.

There are many varieties, older ones being Red Gauntlet, Tioga, but these ones, unlike the newer varieties such as Seacrest or Sunset are not daylight neutral, which means that the older varieties tend to crop heaviest early and late Summer, but have a lull during mid Summer while the newer varieties crop more evenly throughout.

Sowing or Planting this week:
Tomatos, Peppers, Chillis - 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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