From our Correspondent

May

Readers of these scribblings may remember me talking in a previous epistle of ‘pretty little May’ (from the musical ‘Carousel’). Well, it would seem that in no time at all it has arrived! What a change! After the moaning about the weather, the rain, the cold, suddenly everything has started to grow. The plants carefully nurtured have been planted out, and the tomatoes in the greenhouse appear to be growing every day, and, I have to admit it is all very satisfying.

Of course, it has been a very busy time in the garden to enable us to get to this rapturous stage. The much discussed bean trench has now been filled in, sticks erected and the new bean plants planted. This year I am being very brave and trying a new variety called ‘Benchmaster’. According to the catalogue they are particularly suitable for entering in produce shows. At this early stage they are looking good, so we shall see. My sweetcorn has also been planted, an F1 variety called ‘Sundance’ which I grew from seed. It is normally advised that you plant sweetcorn in a square or similar to aid cross fertilisation, but this year because of my bad garden planning space was limited so they are in a double row – but I’m sure they will grow successfully.

The sunshine and dry weather (until recently!) has been a huge boost in that it has enabled work to be done on the garden without getting too clogged up, and of course it has got warmer, which makes all the difference. I have had a happy time putting up netting for the newly growing peas, as well as the bean sticks, and also covered the carrots to keep out the carrot fly. I have had to put stakes around the broad beans with strings to stop them blowing over, and it won’t be long before I have to put up the strawberry net.

Runner beans and sweet corn

I have had to re-sow both the parsnips and the main crop carrots because of my over enthusiasm! I did say earlier in the year that I thought I had put them both in too early when it was too cold, and of course, I was proven to be right. Not a seed germinated so I had to start again. I am pleased to report that both parsnips and carrots have now appeared and although a little behind what I would normally expect for this time of year, I am sure they will catch up. Nature always seems to have a way of compensating.

And then of course there is the ever constant need for weeding. Ho- hum!

I don’t know why but this year I seem to have had trouble germinating and growing lettuce. I always try and put some seed in a pot in the greenhouse reasonably early to get the season started, but that failed completely! So, I then put some more seed in and put the pot in my cold frame as lettuce doesn’t like it too hot – a few came up seemingly reluctantly and really didn’t grow away to any extent. The season was progressing so I put some seed directly into the garden. Still nothing! I actually had to buy some plants from that well known garden centre run by a Europe hating Cornishman, and they are eventually growing. Like most gardeners, I am usually throwing surplus lettuce plants away at this time of year as you can only eat so many at a time, but not this year. I blame the government – or even the weather!!

I also have a small number of soft fruit bushes in my garden – they are so easy to grow and apart from an annual pruning require very little work. Because it is May, small gooseberries and blackcurrants are already forming, and the little red currant bush I put in earlier in the year is throwing up some very healthy looking growth. Red currant bushes can get very big so in another year I will have to make sure that it doesn’t get too big and take over that corner of the garden. We are still eating gooseberry crumble using last year’s crop, and very nice it is too! I burn an open fire in the winter and when I empty the grate I always put some of the ash around the fruit bushes and raspberries – and they seem to do very well from it. I have had the gooseberry bushes for 15 years and they show no sign of slowing down, so I must be doing something right.

May is a wonderful month in the garden full of new growth and hope – and of course a lot of work. But that makes it all worthwhile. Somebody gave me a coaster for my tea cup once and it says -if you want to be happy for a short time, get drunk, happy for a long time fall in love; happy for ever, take up gardening! I suppose that’s why we all do it.

My garden as a contruction site!