Fruit & fire, and all things new
Monday 22 August
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So much of growing is about timing. I believe, and it may be an illusion, that there is a perfect time for everything. I wake on hot August nights panicking that I have not yet ordered my tulips bulbs and the suppliers might have run out of Dom Pedro. Over brunch with one of my favourite florist growers, we sheepishly confess that, once arrived, the boxes of bulbs tend to sit, neglected, until the rush of Christmas is over. How can I possibly justify ordering them now?
I do though. Absolutely loads of them. I finally finally remember to not order pink. Stained glass colours only.
Tuesday 23 August
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Talking of stained glass colours, the dahlias are finally starting to come into their own. The deep, dark reds have been flowering since early June but the ones in the allotment, being dryer I think, are only just starting to get going. I have decided to move them all into the borders and grow rows and rows of sunflowers in the allotment next year. Why so many? Please see Friday below.
Thursday 25 August
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I have been drying Echinops and grasses, poppy seeds and fennel branches. The dahlias have been inadvertently dried, by which I mean I left them in the vase too long and they ran out of water. A trick better known for drying hydrangeas, it has worked a treat, even on the Café au Laits.
Friday 26 August
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I know I could make one out of a bin and a bucket but I pay a premium for convenience and aesthetics and order a biochar kiln. This season has not been an easy one for many of us, and even some of my best beds have felt dry and lifeless. It is time to get serious about soil amendments and biochar, a form of charcoal which acts as honeycomb for microbes to inhabit, is one of the best. Listening to a discussion about it on Radio 4’s 39 Ways to Save the Planet (which describes biochar as the arch-enemy of climate change), fast growing, carbon rich plants make the best biochar and in my book, that means sunflower and globe artichoke stalks. Growing both is no hardship for me; the Hopi sunflowers make incredible plants, full of seeds for dyeing and for birds and globe artichokes dipped in butter are wonderful for me.
Saturday 27 August
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A biodynamic fruit day and there is much to be done. The orchard has had a very mixed year and I think many of the stone trees have prioritised survival over fruit production. There are some sloes in the hedge but the plums are thin to absent. A day for trimming and training the mature apple espaliers. Every movement nudges more apples off and I catch them as best I can. (Apples that have hit the ground cannot be stored; they will always bruise.) As disappointed as I am in the cultivated fruits, the blackberries are having a bumper year. Today is the day to take the dogs for a walk with a bag full of pots and tubs.
Oh, and planting out beans. They have been living in my kitchen for so long, they were starting to twine around the wooden spoons.
Sunday 28 August
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Another fruit day and I haven’t finished the trees, but I still sneak out to a secret salvage yard. Hidden in a farmyard and open only on Sundays, we come home with the back of the Land Rover full of troughs and pots and metal boxes, perfect for a windowsill of winter salad leaves.
Have a wonderful Bank Holiday. I am off to the Dorset Brocante tomorrow for more pots. Maybe see you there?
