Veg garden and the threat of a hose pipe ban

 

S cut back the currant bushes while I was away.  As pruning goes it works ok for the red and white currants, not so much for the black currants.  They need the old stems taking out in full and possibly not just at this time of year.  However, access and parking were getting a little tight (especially after rain (remember that?) when the plants are wet) so they have been pushed back.  This has enabled some better access to the last of both black and red currants.  I’m not convinced this was something I was looking for and I am definitely not fretting about picking every last one but a few more in the freezer, since I made room, is not necesssarily a bad thing.  Just so long as we remember to eat them!

The white currants are nearly ready.  That is those that have not been trimmed off.  I’m  struggling to celebrate this as I still have two large freezer bags full from last year.  They have their limitations.  My usual go to recipes are white currant jelly and summer pudding.  They just do not have the look of a red currant about them for decorative affect.  The birds agree.  They just don’t get the birds stripping them off the bush in quite the same way they do red currants, or at all really.  I’ll pick some for the freezer but since I do not need any more whitecurrant jelly at present I am not exactly going to be over zealous on the picking front.

The other one coming along fast are blackberries.  These should not be in the garden but they sneak in along one side, the longest side to the garden in fact.  Again, I still have a lot, even more than white currants,  in the freezer from last year and I don’t need anymore blackberry and apple jelly either.  We’ll have a few, and I have picked a very few that were ripe, but there is no way we can even begin to eat all we have and only so much can be offloaded on the neighbours.  I hate to think of them being wasted (well, quite so much being left to the wildlife) but I’m going to have to turn a blind eye.  There is no point in picking and preserving if we are not going to eat them and nor is anyone else.

After a few stray and very early raspberries they have stopped and seem to be waiting their turn or the end of the very hot weather at any rate.

Last night we had stuffed courgettes.  There are plenty of them and two round ones had definitely got away from me so there were his and her sizes which I stuffed with a mix of lamb, onions, red pepper, tomatoes and Lebanese seven spice mix (allspice, black pepper, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, cloves and nutmeg).

Two trays of summer savory and three of basil are in the dehydrator.  Much like buses we have been waiting for the first cucumber and we get 4 at once.  One is in the fridge to be eaten as is, the other three have been sliced and set off to ferment.  For mid week we are doing well.

We are not yet subject to a hosepipe ban but have been asked not to use them.  It seems, even where banned, there is an exception for food crops in gardens and allotments if a watering can is not going to cut it.  Trickle systems on a timer are also ok as are hosepipes rigged to water butts.  The pressure is a bit lack lustre for the latter but if need be I can use a watering can for the flower and herb pots.  The hanging baskets are on a timer dripper system as is the green house.  Most of the fruit takes care of itself though I do water the raspberry canes and I did the strawberries while they were cropping.  It is the veg and herbs that I do rather need a hosepipe for and it seems that is exempt if, as and when we actually get a ban in place so I am off the hook for what would be hours of lugging watering cans round the garden. 

I need those hours to do some weeding at the weekend and I have more kohlrabi, some kale seedlings (it isn’t making it directly into the bed) and Chinese cabbage to plant.  Sowing a row or two of fennel would not go amiss either but first the weeding!