September 2010: Time for Reflection

Can it be September already? It has been such a contrary year, weather-wise, that I sometimes wonder and have to look at the calendar to reassure myself. Keats talks about ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ in his poem written in 1820 entitled ‘To Autumn’. Let’s not haste towards the Equinox, though by the end of the month it will have come and gone and officially, a new season will be upon us. Think instead of Harvest Festivals, or maybe even exhibiting at your local produce show.

September invariably brings hot sunshine after a period of wet – mists in the morning but ripening into days of glorious warmth. It always seems to coincide with back-to-school time, children slaving at their desks once more when they would rather be playing outside, or helping to pick and store vegetables and fruit in the gardens of their parents or grandparents – or even neighbours. It’s a ‘breathing time’ in which to reflect upon gardening successes. Walk around your garden, looking critically at each area and make notes on what you are proud of and what needs attention. A photograph or two will act as a memory jogger when you come to plan in depth for next year.

And there’s still time to visit other gardens for inspiration. I visited three last month and was amazed at how many useful ideas finished up in my notebook; little things that I could utilise at home.

A Helping Hand

Protect fruit crops: It’s been a terrible year for wasps in our garden, attacking the plums and pears.  Hanging traps suspended from fruit trees and filled with a sticky honey solution  are a good idea. You can get some lovely ones that look like hanging glass lanterns, although I am keen to try the new ‘Waspinator’ (right) to deter them from even thinking about our orchard. Keep an eye open also for a regular flight path – to their nest, probably in a garden shed or roof. Use a wasp-nest destroyer if the nest is accessible, or call in your local council’s  ‘pest control man’.

Soft fruit (late raspberries and blackberries) will still need protection. September is blackberry month, though legend says that they are inedible after Michaelmas (September 29th) as the devil spits on them on that date! Netted fruit frames will deter birds; as for the devil…. well make the most of it until 29th.

Sow new lawns – or bare patches in existing ones, particularly those damaged by pets. Grass grows like the clappers again in September. Proper preparation is of course sensible if you want your lawn to survive once the seed has germinated. Before sowing, remove all stones and weed, rake the soil to a fine tilth and add sand if you have a heavy clay soil; sow thinly, raking the seed into the surface. Caution: before buying seed, decide what your ‘lawn’ will be used for as seed mixes are available for every use from a bowling green to a children’s play area and even one that will survive shade under trees. Cover the surface with netting raised slightly above soil-level (to deter sparrows from dust-bathing or eating the seed), and wait for germination.  Have a look at a specialist website for more technical details.

Plant Spring Flowers: what could be more lovely than the scent of wallflowers intermingled with tulips and polyanthus or pastel primrose, the blue of forget-me-nots mixed with Bellis perennis (pom-pom winter-flowering daisies in shades of white, pink and red), or the ubiquitous overwintering pansy in almost every shade of the rainbow. Set them out formally in rows as seen in parks or city council displays, or in mixed groupings, or dotted here and there in plantings of three, five, seven and so on (always an odd number) between shrubs or herbaceous perennials that will be cut back later in the year. Or plant up your pots; single species or mixed groups. You can even position your pots within borders to add a little height to an otherwise ‘flat’ area.

School Gardens: with the start of not only the new school term but also the new academic year, it’s a marvelous time to introduce children to the joys of gardening: they are after all the next generation destined to care for our precious planet. How can they possibly do so if they do not know where to begin? There’s vegetables and salads to sow and harvest (even in Autumn) so they can eat their five-a-day, and decorative plants to delight the senses with colour and scent. See (left) a wonderful demonstration school garden taken at the Royal Welsh Botanic Garden near Carmarthen in Wales.

Why not become involved? Approach your local school to see whether they need experienced volunteers to help maintain – or even create – a school garden. You will probably have all kinds of security checks to establish your credentials, but  this should be less of a problem if you have children at the school. Or offer them surplus tools or seeds, plants or cuttings. Offer to water or weed or keep an eye on the garden during school holidays. Or raise funds for a nominated school by selling your spare produce or cut flowers (gate sales). Donate your own spare produce to their Harvest Festival (they often send produce to local care homes). WI market in your area? Offer them spare produce for stalls. With determination and imagination, anything is achievable.

Until next month, happy gardening!
 

Gardener's Kitchen

‘Ma proudly opened the closet doors revealing shelf upon shelf of gleaming jars of bottled fruit, jams,  jellies, chutneys and all manner of preserves. All so lovingly prepared; hour after steaming hour standing at the hot stove. “Look!” she said.
“Yes,” responded Pa; “when are we ever going to eat all this?”
“Eat it?” Ma said, as she caressed last year’s bottles and jars, dusting the tops and squinting at the faded labels. She replaced them high on the uppermost shelf and gently closed the cupboard doors.’

Ma’s Blackberry Jelly: For each 1lb/450gms of fruit, add a tablespoon of water and the juice and pips of half a lemon.  Put fruit only into an ovenproof non-metallic bowl; cover and place at the bottom of the oven on lowest possible heat for a few hours until the juice has ‘run’ and the fruit is tender. Mash with a fork or potato masher and tip contents into a sterilised jelly bag. Suspend the bag and contents over a large bowl and leave overnight. Next day, measure the juice into a jam kettle and, for each pint of juice, add 1lb/450gms of warmed sugar. Bring to the boil, and boil fast until setting point is reached (102°C). Pot into warmed jars, cover and label.

Damson & Orange Preserve: Pick, weigh and wash the damsons and an equal quantity of sugar. Place the fruit in a preserving pan with the grated zest and juice of some oranges – in the proportion of 3 oranges to 1 kilo of fruit (for odd quantities, 0.27ml juice to 1gm fruit). Cook gently until the fruit is tender, then add the warmed sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Bring to the boil, and, once setting point is reached, let it cool for a while; then skim off as many stones as possible  using a slotted spoon. Pot and add a ‘stone’ warning on the jar as it is impossible to remove them all.

Notes from Dobies of Devon

Despatching now are all the orders already received for spring bedding plants, so if you have already ordered, now is a good time to see that soil is ready for their planting on arrival (see ‘A Helping Hand above).  It isn’t too late to order from either of our two current catalogues: either the ’Spring flowers, bulbs and perennials Autumn 2010’ or the ‘Fruit and vegetable Summer/Autumn 2010’ although you have missed the winter vegetables and second crop potatoes. You’ll need to hurry while stocks are still available – and don’t forget that we’ve now got a great new online virtual ‘page-turning e-catalogue’ for you to browse through. Just click on the link, wait briefly for the pages to load and you can instantly view every product, page-by-page.

If you haven’t already ordered your spring-flowering bulbs, please do so now or it will be too late, particularly for those that you want to plant indoors in pots.

Good to see you: thank you to everyone who came to our Open Day last month down at our trial grounds in Devon. Despite a wet Saturday (sorry, we can’t arrange the weather!) everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Sunday was sunny, which always lifts everyone’s spirits – we were delighted to see so many visitors whether dry or wet and hope we were able to answer all your questions. All in all, a great time. Facebook is always available for your comments; and keep your eyes open for those seeds and plants that particularly delighted you when the 2011 catalogues arrive.

Have your Say: any feedback to items in this newsletter can be posted on Facebook. We’d really love to hear from you: your opportunity to communicate with us directly. You can share hints and ideas or even photos (like this picture of an enormous cobnut squash from Su Day). Why not join us?

Previous issues of the Dobies of Devon e-newsletter can be viewed here: Summer editions for June 2010, July 2010 and August 2010. Just click on the links and you will have a compendium of information, ideas and advice at the click of your mouse.

Looking ahead: as we move into Autumn, we’ll be looking at apples, planting spring flowering bulbs and garlic,  and considering frost protection.