Unsettled weather for the week to come, more showers and cooler.
We hope you all are well and enjoying your gardens. What a joy it is to see rain which is lasting more than 3-4minutes, the gardens certainly need it as do the farmers!
It has come to my attention that the Diamond-Back Moth is about and devastating the Brassicas, Aubrietia, Wallflowers and Alyssum, so if your plants are not protected with fleece or fine micro mesh I would make sure to try and cover them up. The moth is very small about 1cm in length. One life cycle is completed in 15-30 days so their numbers can increase hugely. Garlic solution, washing powder in dilute mix with water might help. Hopefully this message has reached you in time.
We are deadheading in our flower borders, cutting grass and edging the lawns and now the Strawberries are ripening and they are deliciously sweet. Next it will be the Peas and Broad Beans to pick in a week or two’s time. It is a productive time in the garden calendar which we will enjoy and what we can not use we will process and freeze to consume in the winter months.
We are making the most of relaxing in our garden taking in the scent, colours and birdsong which lifts anyone’s spirit.
Thank you for your warning about the moths, we have them in our garden and hope we have saved our plants from their destruction. The garlic solution is a great suggestion. We are beginning to eat strawberries too, so delicious. Up until now we have had little success with spinach, but not this year! It’s prolific, we’ll look like Popeye soon. The rain is very welcome and even with it, the fields around us, full of potatoes, are being given copious amounts of water.