Still catching up

 I did not realise it is over 2 months since my last post and I am still playing catch up with weeds and grass edges and all the other jobs in the garden.

We have been harvesting well and now the gooseberries, black and white and early red currants are over. The autumn raspberries are just beginning, replacing the summer ones which are now over.

This means it is time to cut out the fruited canes of the summer raspberries and tie in the new growth which will provide next years fruit. The same needs to be done with the logan and tayberries.

In the green house the aubergines are coming on well, not the normal rounded type but a variety called long purple.

The tomatoes are also ripening. We have not bothered with outdoor tomatoes this year, as long as the weather is warm and dry they are great but with all this damp weather they are likely to get blight and the whole crop will be lost.

The cucumbers were doing well but have now succumbed to the red spider mite, We will use nematodes next year to try and prevent this.

Beetroot, lettuce and beans: broad, french and runners are all doing well and the courgettes are growing by the minute. We like to pick them at about 15cm so a daily check is required to prevent ending up as marrows!

Peas have been and gone but were delicious freshly picked.

Now is the time to summer prune the trained apples and plums and pears so that will keep me busy for several days over the next couple of weeks. Pruning the new growth back hard at this time of year encourages more fruit buds and stops the trees growing out of their spaces.