Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
June 30, 2009: the pest patrol
High summer is here, so don't forget to be vigilant with pests in your vegetable patch, advises Terry Walton
June is about to leave us and July has opened its doors. July is the month of change on the plot as the youthful, tender growth assumes its adult look. The leaves grow large and darker green as they strive to increase their harvest of bountiful crops to repay us for their care. The cabbages grow into large, plump balls and the beans fill out their canes with a wall of green. The root crops flourish above the soil as the leaves get ever taller to feed the long slender roots beneath. Every plant seems to know its destiny and it struggles to outdo its neighbour. Yes, the landscape changes in this most pleasant of months and to me this is high summer. A time to relax, taking in this flurry of growth and admire the wonders of nature.
June was a great month and fulfilled its potential and was typical of summertime on my hillside. Yes, there were four hot days and a thunder storm! Humidity was high and the crops relished it.
There are some telltale signs among some vegetables on the plot that their growing days are at an end. A scan of the garlic area shows their leaves turning yellow as all that growth is channelled into those swelling garlic bulbs. These have been out on the plot since last October and they are finishing their careers while the sun is at its peak. It is the perfect time to ripen those white bulbs in the long sunny days ahead. This will store up that unique flavour that garlic adds to my spicy dishes.
Now is a good time to have a daily patrol and pest watch. Not only do the plants thrive in these near perfect conditions but so do our enemies. The tips of the broad beans have long been removed to stop the black fly but some new tender shoots reappear and these are the perfect place for a meeting of greenfly. I was removing some of these when I spotted a group of my friends, the ladybirds crawling around. There was the temptation to continue destroying these pests, with my finger and thumb method, when the thought struck me that I was removing their food source. So they have been given the chance to devour these and control them naturally. I hope they are up to the task!
Also while on patrol, I spotted a group of holes appearing in one of my brussel sprouts. Flipping over the leaf was a newly-emerged group of caterpillars. I had coated all of these with my smelly, rhubarb mix but one butterfly obviously had no sense of smell. They were soon dispatched to the nearby hedge as food for the birds. So as an extra precaution it was time to give them another coating of this evil liquid.
But, despite the pleasure the plot is giving me, all is not well. I found several dead frogs lying around the area. There is no way these were subject to any insecticides or poisons as these are strictly taboo on my garden. A quick investigation shows that they are suffering from a fatal disease called Ranavirus. Apparently this is spreading rapidly around the country.
Why is it that so many of our gardening allies are under attack from various diseases? The bees are being attacked, now my frogs and the hedgehog population is the decline. These are the organic gardener’s front line defence in keeping pests under control. This is a worrying element in the natural balance of the environment.
As keepers of the environment we should all act responsible and behave in a way that does not put more pressure on our ever-changing planet. As gardeners the effects of climate change are very evident to us as our growing seasons slowly change. We must do more bring restore these balances and work to help keep nature safe and healthy.
Useful links
- The Allotments Sagas: Terry Walton's weekly online diary
- Read Terry Walton in Saga Magazine
- Planting to attract useful insects
- How to grow tomatoes
- Grow your own strawberries
- Visit our gardening channel
- Chat to other gardeners at Saga Zone
My Life On A Hillside Allotment
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called, My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press. The book is available from Amazon
