After harvesting your crops we recommend you sow cover crops such as mustard seed or broad beans to regenerate the soil. Cover crops act as a green fertiliser for your garden, before they start to seed simply mulch the plants into your garden.
Mulch, mulch, mulch, and more mulch. Do we need to say more?
Adding mulch such as pea straw to your garden will retain moisture and help keep a happier, healthier garden. If you have an irrigation system it's a great idea to mulch right over the top of this to manage your water usage in the most efficient and effective way.
Recently we have had lots of people coming in-store with problems of dusty/moldy tomatoes or plants with mildew. It's great to see everyone is staying on top of the watering, however, it's also important when watering that you water the roots and avoid water and soil splashing up onto leaves. We also suggest ensuring that your plants have enough airflow by taking off excess leaves. When removing leaves check there is no disease spread before adding this to your compost.
Hand watering your garden in the morning rather than the end of the day can also assist with disease prevention and allow the root system to have access to water during the day when it is needed most.
And if like us, you are looking for some new ways to use up all of those cucumbers here is some inspiration below (and don't forget a nice slice to add to your gin and tonic).
A healthy summer garden largely comes down to how you are supporting it with efficient watering plans. If you're keen to support great soil health and increase your crop yields, simply by harvesting a natural, free resource then come along to our upcoming Rain Harvesting workshop held on 22 February and learn more about rainwater collection, storage, and use.
