Providing this month’s tips is Ben Dell Edible Garden Project Community Gardner at Royal Botanic Garden Garden tips for July
BUZZING AT LOGAN Logan Botanic Gardens at Port Logan
near Stranraer is buzzing this summer. ‘Weeds, Bees & Butterfl ies – Stubborn, Buzzing and Beautiful’ is an exhibition of historical artefacts including glass, porcelain, jewellery, silks, stamps and books, all decorated with plants, bees or butterfl ies. The exhibition is open until 30 June.
www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/ logan
The return of Bot Cott One of the most remarkable heritage
projects to be happening in Britain is now underway, as a key learning centre of the Enlightenment is rebuilt – stone by stone – at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Some 250 years after it was fi rst constructed on Leith Walk, the historic Botanic Cottage is to be restored using traditional building techniques and the original stones dismantled from its former site. Returning to its original use, when fi rst built in 1764, the Botanic Cottage will provide a place of learning for budding young gardeners, enthusiastic amateurs and aspiring botanists and horticulturists.
www.rbge.org.uk
By July you should be starting to reap rewards from earlier hard work in the fruit and vegetable garden. Peas, broad beans, beetroot and salads will be reaching maturity now and it is important to harvest crops at the optimum moment. Most crops taste best when they are young: peas and broad beans become mealy, beetroot turns woody and lettuces are likely to produce fl owers and become bitter. Regular harvesting of young crops provides tastier vegetables and also helps prevent gluts. So, remember to allow time in the day for harvesting; it always takes longer than you think.
If you are planning a holiday around now, you will need help. Ask a friend to look after your plot. In return for watering and weeding, encourage them to harvest some crops. This will also help to prevent the vegetables from spoiling and going to waste while you are away.
There is still time to sow relatively quick-growing crops such as radish, lettuce, beetroot, kohl rabi and spinach. At the Botanics, we like to sow small batches of these crops at two to three week intervals throughout the growing season. This technique is known as succession sowing, it helps to prevent excess at any one time. This is very important for short shelf life vegetables, such as lettuce, as it is very hard to eat more than a few in a week unless you like lots of lettuce soup.
Crops that can be sown in July and August, to provide fresh greens in the winter and spring, range from herbs such as coriander and chervil to winter hardy lettuces, oriental greens and various leafy crops including chard, spinach and kale. In mild winters these crops will survive outside but some may need extra protection in the form of a
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN ARBORETUM PL, EDINBURGH TEL: 0131 248 2909
WWW.RBGE.ORG.UK /EDIBLEGARDENING
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 147
cloche, unheated greenhouse or polytunnel.
Space is always limited in the vegetable garden so it makes sense to sow winter salads and greens in pots or modules. This means they are ready to plant out as soon as early summer crops have been harvested and cleared from the plot.
Don’t ignore the fruit garden at this time of year. Check gooseberry plants daily for sawfly larvae, which left unchecked can quickly defoliate your plants. Mature stone fruit, such as plums and cherries, should be pruned now. Summer pruning minimises the risk of silver leaf infection. Standard apple and pear trees are usually pruned in the winter. However, if you have trained your trees into fans, espaliers or cordons they should be pruned sometime between now and September. This restricts leafy growth and encourages fruit buds to develop along existing branches. The exact timing depends on the condition of your plants. Summer pruning should be carried out when the bottom third of the new shoots is stiff and woody.
Keep watering, weeding, sowing and harvesting just think of the home grown meals to come.
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