Garden: The June To Do List

I love June, June is the only true month of relaxation in the garden.

The frenzy of sowing seeds and planting out the results which characterise March, April and May are behind us and the resulting gluts are yet to start, although I did notice the first courgette flower this morning. June is all about eating strawberries and the salads, the first peas, although I have left the evidence of eating a few pod's worth whilst taking the morning stroll. The artichokes are almost finished and next year we will get asparagus in May.

June is enjoying the scent of the roses which are stupendous this year, and the heat of the sun before it becomes just too hot in July and I have to retreat back to the cool inside, to the dim light behind the shutters. Watching the Tour de France on TV, quite enough exercise in the heat.

The June to do list contains two of the big one-off jobs of the year, tasks that both give a huge sense of achievement and mark the passage of time. June is, after all the month of the longest day, and for odd balls like me, it is a positive thing. Shortening day length means the approach of winter and the heaven of bouncing on skis though the powder once more!

The garlic is just starting turn yellow at the tips of the leaves and the first head pulled to scent a roasting chicken on the weekend had plenty of split cloves, albeit a little on the small side. I love the subtle flavours of the green wet garlic, and no doubt the results are preferred by anyone unfortunate enough to be breathed upon after consumption of a batch of garlic curry.  In about a week's time, especially with hot weather forecast, I think it will be ready for harvesting, a quick enough job. It is the drying that has to be got right, having lost about a third of the crop one year because it just rotted hanging up, I'm now much more careful.

The 2012 harvest drying.

The other biggie is planting out leeks.  Leeks are a fundamental crop for us and we'll need enough to be able to eat them at least twice a week from November into April.

February

 I reckon to plant about two hundred and will lose probably thirty or forty to slugs and the voles. There is nothing quite like watching a fat mature leek plant disappearing down into the ground and as the pesky creature munches it from below. I've lost most of my tulips that way, too. On the other hand the cats and owls are fond of a vole supper.

Leek planting used to be a one day job, but the arthritis makes it a much more slow and painful process - last year took three days and I suspect this year will be slower again as my wrists and hands get grumbly. The leek bed has had phacelia growing as a green manure since last autumn; it not only keeps the weeds down and protects the soil from the winter rains, it also provides a good nectar source for bees and other pollinators.

Phacelia being enjoyed by the bees.

Mid May and the green manure is in full bloom.

Just before it began to set seed, the plants were cut down, chopped up and dumped on the surface of the bed which was then covered with a pretty plastic sheet. The first June job will be to lift the plastic and, assuming the phacelia has broken down, fork through the bed to remove the mole runs. The voles use the mole runs to access the leeks, so although I try to practise No Dig it is pretty hard with a mole in residence!

So, apart from dropping leeks plants in holes and hanging up garlic to dry, the other jobs resolve around successional sowings -
Peas petite pois (Waverex) and mange-tout (Oregon giant)once
Haricot beans Rocdor and Aiguillon once
Radishes weekly
Various lettuces fortnightly
Beetroot - a different variety each week
Herbs like basil and coriander monthly

Of course, there are the onging jobs like pest watch - the morning stroll usual identifies problems like cabbage white butterfly eggs and caterpillars, brassica beetles and gooseberry sawfly. I'll also be weighing up spraying the tomatoes with Bordeaux mixture against blight. I'd rather not, but there seems no other way of avoiding losing a whole crop.

I'll cut the edges of the grass paths once a week and hoe or hand weed depending on the weather once a week, too. Plus I'll carry on making liquid feed from comfrey and nettles (more on this in a future post) and feeding the result once a week.

I take my hat off to folks who run an allotment or really productive veg garden and also have a full time job. I never managed more than runner beans, courgettes, chillies and lettuces when I worked, and that was only a twenty minute cycle away. But there will be a lot more sitting on the terrace, drinking tea and reading a good book or just enjoying the view.  And planing for next year, too.