Keeping Your Edibles Happy

Tend your crops for a great harvest this year, says Ruth

- Ruth

Our little veg patch is doing brilliantly so far this year and I want to keep it that way. Weeding and pest control are the two main occupations (especially around thin-leaved onions, garlic and shallots that can’t fight against weeds), and I have also tended plants that are just past their first flourish.

Our rhubarb cropped fantastically but is now looking rather spent. It didn’t take long to remove the dead leaves, feed with slow-release fertilizer, water well and mulch.

With any luck we may even get enough new stems for some early summer chutney before the plants die back and replenish their crowns.

We’re still sowing quick-growing radishes, spring onions and cut-and-come-again salads for a succession of tasty crops until autumn and beyond. Last winter we sowed salads in the summer’s tomato grow bags and were harvesting crisp and tasty leaves right up until spring.

Late spring and early summer this year have been relatively dry, so don’t forget to water. Giving plants a good dousing every few days, either in the morning or evening, is better than a little water every day.

Care for soft fruit