Still Time for Salad
The first of my gardening tips for August is for the kitchen. If you’ve ever been to the supermarket on a sunny weekend, you’ll know just how difficult it can be to get hold of the ingredients you need for a delicious salad. Plus all too often those bagged salads are rather the worse for wear too. So why not save the hassle, save the petrol and enjoy an even tastier, juicer (far fresher) and more delicious salad that you’ve grown yourself? Provided the compost is moist, they grow at a surprising speed too. It is that magical combination of a warm (but not too hot) and moist soil which gets the seeds germinating. Then the seedlings put on growth at an amazing rate. In no time at all you’ll have a really scrumptious and very tender crop for you to harvest as and when you need it. No more bags of supermarket salad leaves going soggy in the fridge. When you grow your own there is always a supply to be had. Much fresher more tender and packed full of health-giving ingredients than you’d find in bag!
Feeding & Watering
Make sure that you feed flowering and fruiting plants now. The best thing is a liquid, high potash feed such as one sold for use on tomatoes. That way you can use it on your edibles and your ornamentals. The potash will help to encourage more flowers to form and even at this time of year there should still be more potential from most crops. Watering well before you feed is essential as the soil or compost should be moist first. Try to avoid wetting the leaves and flowers with the fertiliser. On a hot, sunny day even plain water can cause scorching. Super-speedy weeds are everywhere, still growing extra – at every opportunity on hot days. Grab a hoe and hoe them off, leaving them on the soil surface to be baked dry in the sunshine. I'd not say I am lazy, but I do like to do thing quickly and efficiently. My Speedhoe fulfills all my hoeing needs and is easy to manoeuvre in between plants too. So I hope you like my gardening tips for August and find them useful. If there is anything that you would like to read about then please comment below. We'd love to hear from you!