Soft growth aplenty this summer

We’re past the halfway point in the growing season now. The peak of summer has been a non-event temperature wise, more like mid spring, except warmer overnight.It feels later in the season than it actually is. Just like January last year, bright sunshine hours are well down. On the plus side rainfall has been adequate. More than adequate. A problematic moisture deficit was beginning to develop late spring, soils are now saturated.

What effect have these conditions had in the garden? Abundant soft growth. Crops are loving the cool damp conditions, especially leafy varieties. Potatoes have performed well. Our first earlies, Swift, weren’t great, however. Early/mid spring presented some really challenging growing conditions with frequent strong cold drying winds. The second earlies, Liseta, are much better and providing an abundance of good sized and shaped tubers.

We have about another two weeks until we move on to Purple Passion, which were planted around the same time as Liseta. These have good size tubers but the tops are infected with blight. This shouldn’t affect yield too much this late in the growing cycle. Main crop potatoes for winter storage are looking healthy and growing vigorously.

Garlic and shallots have been harvested. The early planted soft neck variety ‘‘Printanor’’ performed well, with the bulbs being large and healthy. I tried a hard neck variety called ‘‘Creole’’ this season and it was less successful due to being planted much later and leaf rust stunting it much earlier in development. Over the last few seasons, I’ve moved my garlic planting date forward into April. This gives the crop much more development time before the inevitable disease pressure rises late spring. I have left the odd bulb in the ground, and they naturally sprouted as early as March. Maybe there’s a lesson there? I have had success controlling leaf rust with sulphur sprays, but it only takes a few days and a missed treatment for the disease to run rampant during favourable conditions.

The shallot crop was also a success. I love these small, sweet bunching onions raw in salads. Many of them bolted this year, which was unusual. Each bulb planted usually produces six to 10 new bulbs, so losing the odd one that flowers is not an issue. I usually like to leave these crops curing in the sun a few days before storing, but this year drying has been in the shed.

I still haven’t harvested onions. The tops are still growing strongly. The Californian red onions are bulbing nicely and will produce a great crop.

Brassicas are enjoying the cool damp growing conditions; however we are getting close to the annual white butterfly plague. From February through to late March, when temperatures cool, these pests can severely damage any members of the cabbage family. Regular spraying with Pyrethrum, or Success mixed with a wetter/sticker agent (I find dishwashing liquid adequate) will keep the plants clean.

Remember to rotate your treatments to slow insect resistance developing. Another way to protect your crop is with insect net. It must totally exclude the butterflies and be fine enough to prevent laying eggs through it. Autumn planting should be well under way. Leek seedlings can still be planted, although the later these go in the ground, the lighter and later the resultant crops will be. Beets, celery and fennel are other crops that can be planted for autumn and winter harvest.

In the orchard we had a good flowering and large fruit set. The season has proved challenging here, though. There was the wind and spring dry which caused a lot of fruit drop. The remaining fruit is looking healthy but the cool conditions are delaying development and ripening. The biggest crop looks to be on the Luisa plum which is a real favourite and already netted for birds.

The berries have been a great success this season, especially the gooseberries. Last season we were hit with mildew for the first time, so this year I thinned the bushes for better air flow, made sure they were kept well-watered to prevent stress and given some preventive sprays with sulphur. The result, a large crop of perfect berries.

This will be the first year we get a crop of blueberries. We’ve had plants for years, but this is the first time they’ve flourished. Blueberries need acidic soil conditions and every season I’d give them some elemental sulphur fertiliser and peat amendments, but there was always something to knock them back. Two years ago, a cattle beast got into the garden and basically stomped them into the earth. This year, berries. Yum!

• Keith Omelvena is an avid gardener and nurseryman.