Summer Archives

July 2022 plant raising, no dig interplant, weekly advice, making compost and different types

3rd July 2022 Featured, Summer, Uncategorized

The weather has been unusual. June for example was sunnier than normal, yet no warmer than normal, thanks to some exceptionally cool nights which really slowed down growth of summer plantings such as

June 2022 first summer harvests, new book, compost value, result of saving beetroot seed, wood affecting growth

31st May 2022 Featured, Summer

Summer is underway with tasty beetroot, broad beans, new cabbage and broccoli, carrots and more. It’s a top time for making a lot of compost too. Below I show the rewards of seed saving. and the

July-early August 2021, no dig potato harvests, bindweed, seed saving, sow and transplant for autumn onwards

26th July 2021 Featured, Summer

Everything happens in July! No dig makes it all easier and quicker. You can replant a lot of your garden, after harvests of early plantings. Clear beds to replant as soon as you can, because every day

Compost heaps of pallets simply wired together, no stakes

July 2021 no dig potatoes, succession plantings, make compost, save seeds, RHS no dig gardens, bees arrive

28th June 2021 Featured, Summer, Uncategorized

A growing month, was June. Even though quite dry, with mm in the first four weeks. Average day temperature 21C 70F, average night temperature 10.5C 10F, see my live weather feed. We are fortunate with

Sowing carrots, I rub seeds out between fingers and thumb, as I walk

Mid June blog, rapid growth of vegetables and weeds, new intersowing, seed quality, garlic harvest, watering

14th June 2021 Featured, Summer

The cold spring is a distant memory! We have had three weeks of warm weather with day temperatures averaging 22 C and night temperatures averaging 9C 48F. Light levels are at a maximum so many plants

Celery 20 days after transplant and was under fleece for 16 days

June 2021 summer follows a cold spring, new sowings, bindweed, rabbits, compost qualities, and no dig events

31st May 2021 Featured, Summer

Much of May has been cold, and this followed a remarkably cold April. The legacy is plant growth a long way behind what one expects at this time. May’s final five days have been warmer, afternoo

August 15th update keep beds full, cucumbers tomatoes and melons, save seed, make compost, insect covers, store onions

15th August 2020 Featured, Summer, Uncategorized

Early August has been unusually warm here, night minimum temperatures averaging16C/61F and day maxima averaging 27C/81F. Growth is fast as long as one waters – we use a hose, which takes time w

August 2020 fast growth, succession plantings, onion harvest tips, compost quandaries, sowings now and soon

25th July 2020 Featured, Summer

It’s a rainstorm as I write and I am grateful for it. Before today, July’s total rainfall was 29mm/1.2in and after this storm it’s 46mm/1.8in. Still below average. We have been water

July update 12th, prune squash, sow more & transplant leeks, make compost, onion and potato readiness, path mulch

12th July 2020 Featured, Summer

It’s speeding up now, but growth has been slowed by the weather here. A cool two weeks until 10th July saw daytime maxima always under 20C 68F and averaging 18.5C 65F, with just 4.5 hours sunshi

July 2020 summer unfolds with more sowings, interplanting, weeds to hoe or pull, seeds to save, potato harvests and beware pyralids

27th June 2020 Featured, Summer

June has been warm and with mixed weather, including decent rainfall! of 107mm so far. Rain in June is the best of any month, after the surge of growth in spring. At Homeacres it has rescued my peas,

June mid month new picking and plantings, intersowing carrots, making and using composts, pyralid weedkiller hidden in composts

13th June 2020 Featured, Summer

The weather is cooler and damper than May, but only 28mm/1.1in rain here so far. The soil under growing plants is still dusty – but some of you have had big rain, even too much. “A drippin

June 2020 extreme weather, early harvests, mulching, no dig garlic, webinars, insects, keep sowing, problems with bought composts

30th May 2020 Featured, Summer

May was the driest ever month here, in 47 years of my records. 1990 came close with 4mm rain compared to 3.2mm (0.13in) in May 2020. In the last 20 years, the previous driest May was 2010 with 34mm, s