July in the garden
NIR HALFON
I think there is an annual line that I write about this time of the year. Something about dice being cast, destiny set and other dramatic images of the sort. They all mean: ‘We’ve done the best we can and now it up to the natural elements to do their work and for the plants to grow’. In July we are between finishing all the planting and weeding and just before embarking on the harvest journey.
Already all the crops are producing vegetables that you can buy in the shop. Tomatoes, beans, celery and cucumbers are abundant from the polytunnels. Leafy greens such as chard and kale come from the fields as well as courgettes, broccoli and the first potatoes. These vegetables are picked when ripe or as needed in the shop.
My sights are turning to the field scale harvests, mainly potatoes and onions. These are larger and require a more concentrated effort. Both crops are looking well. The onion leaves are slowly drying off; the foliage starts to get too heavy for the plant. It droops and turns yellow. At some point we will get boxes and a trailer and lift the onions. They will be laid out to dry in any dry spot we can find. Then we cut them and store them for the winter.
Potatoes are slowly turning yellow as well. This is often due to dreaded potato blight which comes annually. To stop the blight reaching the roots, we will mow the foliage and let the tubers sit underground to develop their skins. We have a special potato harvester to lift them and collect them in a place where they are sorted and bagged before storage.
Unfortunately, soft fruit didn’t crop as well this year. This is, usually, another crop which requires concentrated effort all through July. This year, the berries were picked and packed within a week. It could be the weather which meant fewer berries or the ever more daring pigeons who stripped the plants. In the years I have been here, I have never experienced such a situation. One day we were looking at the ripening bunches of red and blackcurrants. When we came to pick them, they were gone!
We have had a wonderful response to our volunteering advert. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 09:30 and 12:00, there have been between 3-5 people coming and helping with weeding and hoeing, lifting garlic and the first potatoes and picking soft fruit. I am very grateful for the help and enthusiasm from the local community. It would have been a very difficult and different season without you. So, if you came one or more times to help, please know that your contribution was extremely valuable. Thank you!