Madeleine's Corner: Harvesting and Storing

I found that last week I spent a huge amount of my time harvesting my crops, this is one of the most prolific times of the year everything is shouting ‘I’m ready pick me, eat me, store me!’ So by now your redcurrants, blackcurrants and possibly gooseberries should be harvested.

You need to pull up any lettuces or rocket that has bolted and replace them by planting out another batch to keep you going through the summer. Some carrots/beetroot may be ready, when they are small they are so sweet and delicious, if you are going to cook them, cook them briefly and the flavour that you get from them will be so much better. You can also use the small beetroot leaves for salads.

Keep anything you have in the greenhouse well watered, although limp plants can come back to life after being watered. Watering in the evening is the best time to water as it gives the plants the whole night in which to soak it up. Last week I made, strawberry sorbet with mint, gooseberry fool, and I froze the majority of my broad beans – otherwise they were going to get too big and bitter.

This is a fantastic time of year, the time when all gardeners want to show off their years work, now is the time to make yummy broad bean salads, have warm new potatoes, and summer puddings galore. Weed your patches. Harvest your crops, eat them, share them or store them.

Storing – Blanch any peas or beans and put them in the deep freeze. Freeze any berries you don’t have time to eat. You can also freeze elderflowers to make elderflower cordial later on in the summer.

Look at your tomatoes and check that they haven’t sprouted any extra branches; otherwise all the energy into making tomatoes will go into making more leaves. So, you do this by looking at the main stem of the tomato, branches should come off that, but only 1 branch. If there are two or more, pinch out the inner branches with your thumb and index finger. Also make sure that the tomato is well secured to the plant support, by using Haxnicks SoftTie.

I have had great problems with finding more spinach to sow as it is not readily available like a lot of herbs or tomato seeds are. This is a good time to sow more of these to see you into the autumn. How about another batch of radishes?

Go to the garden centre and see what tickles your fancy in the way of seeds, because it would be so nice to have some winter and spring crops too.

How to secure your plants with Soft-Tie ~ Plus WIN a free pack!

Haxnicks' Soft-Tie is a special reusable rubber compound coated wire that has a never ending list of uses in the home and garden.

Here we are going to show you how you can use it to train your Tomatoes, Sunflowers, Sweet Peas, Runner Beans, Grapevines or any other plant that might need to be secured as it shoots up.

Cut off lengths of Soft-Tie with a pair of wire cutters, or a pair of pliers that are designed to cut wire as above.

 

You may then tie your  plants on to your supports (in this case a bamboo cane).  Be careful that you don't tie them too tightly.

Perhaps you might want to create more of a gap between support and plant.  Why not try this fancy technique?

If you are trying to train a climbing plant along a piece of fence or trellis, simply tie the plant stem along at regular intervals.  Use the above picture as a rough guide if you like.

Watch the amazing Soft-Tie YouTube video here.

Haxnicks Soft-Tie - durable, flexible, reusable. Choose from Original, Woody, Slim and Slim Woody.

If you would like to WIN a roll of Soft-Tie, simply become a follower of this blog and we will contact you to arrange delivery of your free gift!

Soft on plants, strong on the job

It doesn’t matter how good your plant supports are if the tie used is not appropriate for the job. The award-winning Haxnicks Soft-Tie comes in two widths to ensure that plants stems benefit from the right amount of cushioning, so delicate stems are not bruised or broken.

Soft-Tie has an inner core of galvanised steel wire, which gives it its strength, and an outer coating of a unique, UV-stabilised rubber compound, which gently cushions and protects plant stems from damage. It is easy to secure with just a twist (no need for fiddly knots) and can be easily cut with a sturdy pair of scissors. With a couple of quick twists, the tie may be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate growing stems. Put a twist between the support and the stem and you have a readymade spacer to prevent damage from chafing. Soft-Tie does not rot, so it lasts much longer than regular ties and it can be washed and re-used. Its natural green colour allows it to blend with foliage making it as unobtrusive as possible.

With a 7mm diameter and a slightly thicker steel core, the Original Soft-Tie (RSP £4.99 for 5m) is the perfect choice for tying up plants that are heavily-laden with growing crops, or for tying up the thicker stems of trees, shrubs, roses, large climbers and fruit bushes. With its superior cushioning and strength, it’s a good choice for any plants in exposed spots that are susceptible to wind damage.

Slim Soft-Tie (RSP £4.99 for 8m) is half the width of Original Slim-Tie, only 3.5mm in diameter, and is designed for use with the thinner, more delicate stems of climbing annuals, young vegetables and shrubs, tall perennials and houseplants.