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Vegetables
Sow direct in ground. Dwarf
French bean, beetroot, calabrese,
early carrot, summer
cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, lettuce,
spring onion, pea, mangetout
pea, radish, spinach / leaf
beet, turnip. Sow
in Pots
Spring
cabbage, calabrese, Chinese
cabbage.
Plant
outdoors
Sprouting
broccoli, calabrese, winter
cauliflower, kale, leek.
Harvesting
There's lots to harvest in the
vegetable patch, including spinach, peas, beets, carrots, salads, potatoes and
globe artichokes; shallots and spring-planted garlic may be ready as well.
Pick courgettes before they become
marrows.
Over Wintered onions can be lifted
and used.
Fruit
Fruit picking can begin in earnest,
with strawberries, cherries, summer-fruiting raspberries, currants and the
earliest of the plums. Remember to harvest red, and white, currants in bunches,
still on the stalk - they will keep and taste better. Blackcurrants can be
picked singly or in clusters, as preferred.
Sideshoots that form on pinched-out
grape laterals can be stopped at one leaf. Leaves that are shading grape bunches
can be removed, to speed ripening of the clusters.
Later in the month summer pruning
of restricted fruits (e.g. cordons, espaliers, fans) can begin. Cherries and
plums can be summer pruned after cropping.
Thin apples after the June drop if
still overcrowded. Remove blemished and central fruits from the clusters first.
Branches still heavily laden after thinning can be supported with a V-shaped
stake.
When summer-fruiting raspberries
have finished cropping promptly cut out the old canes.
Continue to peg down strawberry
runners if new plants are needed.
Continue to tie in and train new
blackberry canes.
Propagate blackberries and other
cane fruits with long, lax stems by tip layering.
Cut back sideshoots on gooseberries
to four or five leaves, or just beyond the fruit clusters. This will speed
ripening, encourage fruit bud formation for next year, and control aphids on the
new growth. Red and white currants may be pruned in the same way.
Herbs
Herbs can be harvested to keep the
young shoots coming throughout the summer.
Excess pickings can be dried for
use throughout the year.
Around the Garden
Continue to hoe off weeds in dry
weather.
Carrots can still be sown, but
beware carrot fly when thinning existing seedlings
Plant out leeks and brassicas for a
winter supply, if not yet done.
Summer cauliflowers may need
shading to prevent the curds scorching in bright sun.
Stop cordon tomatoes by removing
the main shoot. Look for the leaf that's above the fourth truss and cut it off.
This should ensure that all the fruits ripen by the end of the season. Bush
tomatoes can be left to their own devices.
Climbing beans may also need
stopping, to maximise cropping on existing sideshoots. Stop them when they reach
the tops of their supports. Beans need sufficient watering to help the seed pods
set.
Remember to pick your bean and pea
pods as they mature, to stop them becoming tough and stringy later in the
summer.
Any non self-blanching celery
cultivars will need earthing up.
Watch out for early leaf rots
caused by potato blight and tomato blight.
Stunted potato plants should be
lifted to check the roots for the tiny nodules of potato cyst eelworm.
Keep an early eye out for the
sunken brown patches of blossom end rot on tomatoes, especially if the weather
has been dry. It can be a sign of irregular watering. Pale, haloed ‘ghost
spots’ can be avoided by not splashing the fruits when watering tomatoes.
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