QUICK FIXES You may have your hands full with watering and feeding this month, but don’t forget to future-proof your harvest by sowing turnips and salad greens, and planting out kale seedlings WORDS AARON BERTELSEN ILLUSTRATION ALICE PATTULLO
ith any luck, July is the month when you will start to feel like all the hard work you put in earlier in the year is paying off. With the garden and containers bursting with fruit and vegetables, it is sometimes difficult to look beyond the immediate need to keep watering and harvesting in order to keep plants healthy and productive and enjoy the produce at its best. But even at this bountiful time of year, we must look to the future. I like to cut back perennial herbs, such as mint, thyme and rosemary, at this time, give them a good feed with organic sheep pellets and top dress with John Innes No.2 or another decent compost. Water well, and new growth will soon appear. This is also the perfect time to sow peppery salad leaves such as rocket, mizuna and mustard greens, which are vulnerable to attack by flea beetle if sown earlier in the year. Get them started now, and you will still be harvesting your own fresh greens well into the winter.
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What to sow Along with peppery salad greens, turnips are ideally suited to a high summer sowing, as they too are popular with flea beetle. In the past, they were often dismissed as cattle food, but now – rather like my beloved pumpkins – they are having a moment in the limelight and I for one am very happy about this. They are particularly delicious when young and tender, so sow them regularly and harvest when they are just a little bigger than a golf ball. I like to roast them whole, tossed in a little olive oil and salt. I find turnips do best sown direct. Sow thinly – I pour some seeds into the palm of one hand and use the fingers of the other to pick up a small pinch and sprinkle it on to the soil, trying to avoid the seeds clumping together. Water regularly and consistently to stop the roots from splitting. Try to avoid sowing turnips in the same soil as last year, as they are susceptible to club root, a soilborne disease. A four-year gap is ideal, if you can manage it. Alternatively, they will do very well in a good-sized pot, but you must be diligent about the watering.
