Bounty on a budget
PHOTO: JASON INGRAM
PART 3 Continuing her new six-part series, expert grower Sally Nex looks at how to help your crops cope with summer heat, save more rainwater and make your own valuable compost Dreamy evenings pottering among your plants, the sun still warm on your shoulders and all the fresh-picked, garden-raised food you can eat – it’s beginning to feel a lot like midsummer, quite the nicest time to be a veg gardener. There are a few clouds in that azureblue summer sky though. It can be hard work keeping plants happy through climate-change-induced heatwaves, so this month we’re sharing climateproofing strategies to help your crops cope without costing the Earth. Sowing wisely keeps your harvests on track, taking a break from heat-sensitive salads and switching to more resilient, drought-tolerant crops instead. Boost rainwater supplies cheaply, and expand your composting for free. Follow my step-by-step guide to make a compost bin from pallets and scrap timber, ready to convert your green waste into rich mulch that will lock in precious rainwater where it’s needed, around the roots of your plants.
102 GardenersWorld.com
July 2022
