What a busy week again. This week I have tackled a few of the little niggly jobs I’ve kept putting off. From Pest prevention, planting out and simply just dead heading…it’s been a week of low level garden maintenance or kitchen garden house keeping!
The vegetable garden continues to thrive, on the whole, in spite of a prolonged period of dry and extremely hot weather for our usual climate here in Staffordshire, England. That said, it’s apparent that some of the crops are finishing prematurely and others are behind where they were last year.
I truly love this time of year and although the watering is proving to be quite a job, I am loving being out in the garden and enjoying watching things grow (except for the weeds!) I also get to enjoy a lovely harvest. Just how small is a pixie cabbage really?
Thing of interest in this video:
The polytunnel (20ft x 12ft) steel cloche hoops and fruit cage (6m x 4m) were all purchased by ourselves from www.firsttunnels.co.uk
Crop varieties featured:
Cabbage – Pixie (seeds sent via Kathleen Williamson)
Channels mentioned in this video
@dogontheplot
@SowChatty
I love this community on YouTube. You have brought another dimension to my gardening journey that I never knew I needed (when I started this channel 3 years ago) but have come to view as a warm, friendly and special space to be a part of. Thank you to all of you who watch and enjoy the videos.
Some of you aren’t subscribed. I rarely ask for subscribers during my videos, but if you’re not subscribed..WHY NOT? HIT THAT BUTTON now (pretty please!) I would also be totally made up if you joined the community and left a comment and a like. It all helps the algorithm to show my video to more people and let this channel and community build.
Big love to you all
Clare x
Music by YouTube audio library, artist featured Chris Haughton
23 Comments
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My apples have been attacked by ladybirds and birds, I also suspect wasps
I am glad to hear that you too are finding crops are so far behind.
My outdoors planted tomatoes have done so much better than my greenhouse tomatoes. So glad I took the risk. I’ve been picking them for a couple of weeks.
Maybe use tarp staples to secure the Catmint baskets.
That was a beautiful sunset at the end of the video Claire an amazing cabbages too thank you😊
Things have either bolted, or are slow to ripen this year. Definitely a testing year for sure 😂
Such a joyful start to a Sunday morning! I'm so happy for you with the success you're having on Posies & Petals! And a bit envious on your cabbages. But you can envy my luffas this year. 😅
I am going to copy your idea of bagging the sweetcorn, I find that sometimes they are attacked by insects or climbing slugs and it is my most favourite crop. This seems to be a particularly good year for blackberries, the farmer's hedge at the bottom of the garden is supplying us with a free and healthy sweet most days, I do soak them in salted water for a while to see if there are any visitors inside. Nice video as usual Clare.
I DO lose the majority of my fruit to birds, my only harvest is what I can take early and let ripen off the tree. Except raspberries and brambles, for some reason.
I'm envying your brassicas. I can't seem to do it except kale, overwintered cabbage and maybe Brussels, the best is in the tunnel. Every pest known to man – flea beetles, cabbage aphids, whitefly, caterpillars. This year I netted. Still got the whitefy. I'm probably just going to pull and compost the lot this week. I have an autumn round but no confidence. Still better for the soil to have something growing rather than nothing
Hi Claire,
I covered my sunflower heads last year with these bags to keep for seeds and returned next day to ripped bags and no seeds. These bags are sadly not a real obstacle for wildlife 😢
I’ve netted around the whole of my sweetcorn area and hoping for the best.
Hopefully the bags work better for you 🤞🌱
I need to take my sweet peas down to. Ive decided to grow a rose up my archway next year instead of having so many sweet peas because they aren't lasting long.
Hi Clare, still working hard, I see?. Lovely that you treated Chip to some more cat mint and what a great idea with the hanging basket protection. I do this with my tender perennial Plants in the spring to stop my grand doggy trampling all over them. Just thinking about the birds pecking your apples/fruit (i know this is always an issue) but before they are fully ripe?. I wonder if they are after the moisture inside. Have you any plans to put a pebble-bath or water feature in your vegetable area for them. It’s been especially dry this might help. I know you have the big lake but it might not be as accessible for the everyday birds. Also I was trying to get the pixie cabbage seed you again recommend. Can’t seem to get them in UK unless you can recommend where to go. Another lovely vlog ❤
Ooh Clare just started watching… what size bags are you using lovely? That’s a brilliant idea…… Sue x
Quality content as always 👍👍👍
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Excellent catch up Clare! Most of our brassicas have been decimated by whitefly, spider mite and lots of lovely green caterpillars of the cabbage white! Even with insect netting they laid their eggs where the leaves touched the netting! I dont think i will bother sowing brassicas in Spring next year! I even found clusters of caterpillars devouring the shoot tips of the sprout plants – not sure how it will affect their growth! However most other veg and tomatoes are thriving🎉
Kathleen
I used my husbands old socks last year to cover sweetcorn and everyone was untouched.
What a lovely sunset!
The nets around the corn cobs don't keep rats away
also there is the hedge there you have to keep the grass away until the hedge is big enough
or the grass will take over so there will be no hedge
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Morning Clare,love the idea of covering the corn cobs so hope it works well,the veg garden looks so lush and wow that massive cabbage to enjoy eating,have you had any rain this past week,still dry as a bone here with temps going back into the 30,s midweek again,absolutely dreading it,your toms will be delicious when ripe ,can’t beat a Tom sandwich,my Turks Turbin squash are turning colour but not swelling very much,surprisingly my Bramley apples are making good size despite no rain for weeks,fingers crossed as I,m hoping to enter them in our village show early Sept along with one of my homemade rag rugs in the craft section,I got a first last year with my needle felted Camel and first with my Madeira cake,looking forward to your show results next week and wishing you good luck ,enjoy the rest of your day xx.
Great video Clare,the things we do for our furry friends aye ,nice treat for Chip 😊🌸🐈⬛
I bought some big tree net bags cover the full tree then got a rie to secure ( big version of your bags your using