Talkback: Waiting for rain
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Have no fear, Pippa, it is only the first day of summer and just think how warm the soil is now. If you planted seeds now they would have ideal conditions for growth. I have had to wait till now in Bristol to be able to get my bean wigwams in the ground and have untangled the lanky plants too long in the conservatory and tied them in, but i bet the seeds I am popping in the soil beside them will give better plants and a higher yield. The rain will come.
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http://higgysgardenproject.blogspot.com/
Higgy
Luckily the water butt is just outside the utility room so it's no problem to collect the water, unluckily we have a water efficient washing machine so we don't get that much out (approx 60L per wash!!).
We're enjoying the half term in good weather though.
After looking forward to planting my courgettes into their final resting places last weekend (and finally getting my living room windowsill back), I felt somewhat thwarted in my task by freak high winds and overly globally warm summer temperatures. In preparation for their migration I had been watering my dusty vegetable patch on and off in the hope of bolstering the soil’s water retention, and like you suggested, had previously mounded manure to add a bit of enrichment. However, with a combination of overshadowing sycamore tree roots sapping moisture from down below, and next door’s cat scratching away moisture from up above, it’s been a bit of an uphill battle.
Anyway, before I was even able to tuck up my plants into their lovingly tendered beds, one little leggy courgette, that had been straining towards the light in my living room for the past 8 weeks, did me the soul destroying injustice of snapping completely in two the moment it was met with a gust of wind. Now, based on some half listened to advice from my botanist brother, I carpet-taped the stem of my dishevelled courgette back together, and buried this part deeply in the soil, in the hope that all will be well. Professionally speaking though, what are its chances? Having read your explanation of how moisture is lost from courgettes, combined with the lack of rain, the high winds and the beating sun, I’m aware that every day could be its last. What are its odds of survival?
Read my blog: http://theafterworkgardener.blogspot.com/
I shall be following Pippa's example and apply a mulch after my watering session tomorrow morning.
It is the farmers I feel sorry for, their wheat etc. crops are only half the height they should be at this time because of the lack of rain here.
Pippa, I now see you write a gardening article for a booklet called Citypress that comes through my door each month; I really enjoy reading them, thank you.
Elspeth