Grow it Yourself - July

A supermarket is a place where there are no seasons. You can buy any vegetable you want at any time of the year. Want a butternut squash in May? Your local supermarket probably has one for sale, though it was most probably grown in Ghana and spent weeks in the back of a container lorry. For all its technological wizardry, there is a terrifying blandness about the modern food chain, with its continuous, year-round supply of mediocre, uniform produce.

The veggie patch on the other hand, is a place where thankfully, the seasons still hold sway in all their riotous glory. Seasonality is not without its frustrations of course (it involves a lot of waiting for one thing), but at least it brings diversity and variety in its wake. Vegetables were never designed to be available all year round - the wax and wane of the seasons is part of their nature.

Summer is truly a time of plenty for GIYers - a time when we perhaps start to struggle to keep up with the output of the veggie patch. Though the work is hard, we can also take time to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

Savour the taste of produce that is organic, local and seasonal. Celebrate its diversity. If you grew a crazy-shaped carrot or a foot-long courgette, congratulate yourself on having produced something utterly unique, which your supermarket wouldn't even let inside the door!

Things to do this Month

To-Do

Any ground that has finished cropping must be quickly cleared away to take more vegetables. Use your produce - eat it, freeze it, process it, exchange it, give it away. Continue to water and feed plants and practice good weed control.

Earth up brassicas such as Brussels sprouts - these plants will grow tall and require a good deal of support. Net plants to keep butterflies and the cabbage moth away.

Cut down legume plants that have finished cropping - leave the roots in the soil as they fix nitrogen in the soil. Give pumpkins plenty of water and apply a high-potash liquid feed.

Sow

Continue successional sowings and use quick maturing varieties for autumn use - Swiss chard, lettuce, rocket, salad onions, radish, turnips, peas, French Beans (dwarf), carrots.

Sow for winter use - spring cabbage, Hungry Gap kale, parsley, perpetual spinach, chicory and coriander. Plant strawberries now for a good crop next June. Propagate rosemary, sage and mint from cuttings now.

Harvest

July and August are peak months for produce – enjoy it! First crops of French and runner beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, courgette and aubergine, marrows, beetroot, globe artichokes.

Continue to harvest new potatoes, calabrese, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, carrots, turnips, shallots, garlic, radish, spring onions, salad crops, strawberries, raspberries, tayberries, currents (black, red and white), gooseberries, loganberries, peas, broad beans.

Ask yourself – do you really need to go to the supermarket?!


Recipe of the Month – Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a classic summer dish that makes great use of veggie patch “gluts”. It can fairly be described as “fiddly”, but I think it’s worth it. This serves four.

Ingredients:

• 5 super ripe tomatoes
• 3 courgettes – cut in to slices
• 2 aubergines – cut in to chunks
• 2 red or yellow peppers – sliced
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 garlic cloves , peeled and crushed
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• bunch of basil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Start by doing all your choppin’ and slicin’.

Score a cross on the base of each tomato, then put them into a bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and leave for half a minute, then pour off the water. Cover them with cold water and leave to cool – the skin should come off easily now. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and roughly chop.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a sauté pan and brown the aubergines on each side, then set aside. Next up brown the courgettes in a little more oil and set aside. Then do the same with the peppers.

Cook the onion for 5 minutes, add the garlic and fry for a further min. Stir in the red wine vinegar and sugar, then tip in the tomatoes and half the basil. Return the vegetables to the pan with some salt and pepper and cook for 5 mins. Garnish with the rest of the basil and serve with some crusty bread.


Tip of the Month – Which plants need lots of water?

Which veg plants need a lot of watering in dry weather and which can ones can withstand a bit of a drought? It’s difficult to come up with a definitive list, but here are some guidelines. Leafy vegetables like brassicas, lettuce, spinach and celery needs lots of water - 10-15 litres per square meter a week.

Fruiting veg like toms, peas, beans, cucumbers need heavy watering when they are flowering and fruits are starting to swell. Too much watering of root crops will encourage lush foliage rather than good roots - in early stages water only if soil is drying out but more is required when roots are swelling.


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Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY Ireland.

GIY is a registered charity that inspires people to grow their own and gives them the skills they need to do so successfully. There are 80 GIY groups around Ireland and 6,000 GIYers involved.

For more tips, information and support visit www.giyireland.com.

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