Can you imagine extending your vegetable sowing season despite cool summer days? This episode of the Master Garden Podcast promises to turn your July gardening into an experimental adventure. We'll guide you through the unexpected joys of sowing savoy cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, and calabrese well into the month. For those looking to keep their garden dynamic with successional crops, we’ve got tips on how to keep your spring onion supply going and why now might be the perfect time to experiment with early sowings of beetroot, chard, and carrots. Plus, we’ll share crucial advice on harvesting early crops like potatoes, onions, and garlic, and offer strategies on how to manage your flourishing garden even when you're away on holiday.
Healthy plants and bountiful harvests are within reach with our July gardening tips. We delve into the importance of hoeing on dry days to prevent weed regrowth, the secrets to feeding and pruning tomatoes for optimum health, and the reasons why proper wound care is essential for disease prevention. Learn why deep watering once a week can transform your plant roots and get our best strategies for protecting ripening fruits from hungry birds. Lastly, discover how to maintain soil health and productivity by keeping your garden beds full, whether with new crops or green manure. Tune in for all these insights and more to ensure your garden thrives throughout July!
Can you imagine extending your vegetable sowing season despite cool summer days? This episode of the Master Garden Podcast promises to turn your July gardening into an experimental adventure. We'll guide you through the unexpected joys of sowing savoy cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, and calabrese well into the month. For those looking to keep their garden dynamic with successional crops, we’ve got tips on how to keep your spring onion supply going and why now might be the perfect time to experiment with early sowings of beetroot, chard, and carrots. Plus, we’ll share crucial advice on harvesting early crops like potatoes, onions, and garlic, and offer strategies on how to manage your flourishing garden even when you're away on holiday.
Healthy plants and bountiful harvests are within reach with our July gardening tips. We delve into the importance of hoeing on dry days to prevent weed regrowth, the secrets to feeding and pruning tomatoes for optimum health, and the reasons why proper wound care is essential for disease prevention. Learn why deep watering once a week can transform your plant roots and get our best strategies for protecting ripening fruits from hungry birds. Lastly, discover how to maintain soil health and productivity by keeping your garden beds full, whether with new crops or green manure. Tune in for all these insights and more to ensure your garden thrives throughout July!
how's going everybody and welcome to episode 232 of master garden podcast. Now, this week's episode is the seed sowing guide for july and I suppose you know, typically these months we have an eye particularly on the, on the vegetable garden, and you know we talk about other gardening jobs as well. Now, this episode, or this type of episode, has proven really popular because I suppose people need to have something to keep a reminder, I guess on a monthly basis, as to you know, what can I show this month or what should I be showing this month. So, yeah, these episodes proved really popular.
Speaker 1:
It's still continuing to be a funny year. As I record this, it's a windy day, quite cold it's. You know it feels a lot colder than it is, like it says, says it's 16 degrees, but because of the wind and the lack of sunshine it feels quite cold and I suppose because of that, there's a lot of seeds that I would have said last month. This is the last chance to sow them, but because of this I suppose coolness that there is I'm going to leave some of them on this month. So, typically, they would have come off in the month of June and well, I'm leaving them on this month because I think there might be a bit of an opportunity to you know, given the weather conditions, to capture some of these one last time. These types of things, they tend to be a little bit experimental, so you may or you may not have success with them, but there's no real harm. Anyway, july is a month where you're going to be doing a good bit of harvesting A lot of your crops. Certainly your early, second early potatoes are going to be ready. Onions and garlic are potentially going to be ready this month, depending on when you got them into the ground, and so there's going to be ready. Onions and garlic are potentially going to be ready this month, depending on when you got them into the ground, and so there's going to be space, you know, to get some of these crops in, and those crops are going to give you harvest later in the year and even into early next year. So, yeah, lots, lots to be doing.
Speaker 1:
July, as I say it, it also kind of coincides with when people go on holidays and it's it's a month where the garden can get slightly neglected a little bit, and that's no harm. You know everyone needs our holidays and I guess what you're doing at this stage is you're, I suppose, managing and tending to what you have. Potentially, if you're getting someone to come in and water you're, you're doing that in exchange for, for, for some harvest, I guess, and you know that's uh, that's always a good, a good deal if you can barter that with somebody. So, yeah, lots, lots to be, lots to be at this month. Uh, seed sowing this is definitely smaller, but there's some some still on, so we're going to shoot through them and then we'll talk about kind of some other jobs you can be doing. So, as usual, a few of the successional crops are still on it. So we have spring onions again continuing to sow those regularly, you know they're. They're one that we can sow for the next couple of months and definitely one that you know most people eat and enjoy.
Speaker 1:
I'm going to go through a couple here, now that I've kept on that I would normally take off the list for for for july, and the first one is savoy cabbage, or winter varieties of cabbage. As I say, normally they'd be gone off the list, but given that it has been a little bit cold, I think there might be still an opportunity to sow these in module trays and get one last planting outside in a couple of weeks time. So cabbage, purple sprout and broccoli, green sprout and broccoli, again worth trying. And calabrese Now I will sow calabrese anyway for planting out into the polytunnel, you know, for later in the month or certainly in the early August, and they'll give you a harvest. You know September, you know later in the month or certainly in the early August, and they'll give you a harvest. You know September, october time, and that's, you know that's something that's worth doing. But if you don't have a greenhouse or a polytunnel, it's worth trying one more sowing there of those.
Speaker 1:
Beetroot, a winter variety, again very, and all of these, I stress, is very early in the month, so certainly in the first four or five days of july. Um, that's kind of it is really the last chance and this is a bit of an experiment, but I think, just given the year that we've had, it's worth having a shot at it. Beetroot, winter variety is another one that you can do, uh, charred, again normally too late for this, but worth to try. And carrots is another one that's worth to try, and again, I am speaking about the very, very early days of july. I'm giving that a go and you know, you may or you may not have success with it, but at least you're having a shot. And at worst case scenario, with some of them you know, likes a beetroot, for example.
Speaker 1:
If you don't ever get a proper, you know head farming you're, you're definitely going to get some, some leaves off it now. I sowed beetroot in probably late july or august last year in the polytunnel and they formed lovely little baby beets uh beetroot for kind of later in the year and was harvesting them right up until probably may of this year. So you know there is opportunities to do these things and they may not always be exactly what you'd read off the back of a packet or get a recommended recommendation from a book on. So again, sometimes we're trying these things, sometimes they don't work out, but always worth having to go. So those ones, as I say, should be off the list, but we've left them on a little, a little longer, just at the off chance that we can catch a couple of them.
Speaker 1:
Kale is one that we can sow this month. Again, this is the last chance for kale and, yeah, that's a good one. Again, some can go into the greenhouse later in the year as well and you'll get a bit of a harvest off. That. Spinach is another one. At this time of year you tend to see it run into seed very, very quickly. So sow it regularly, harvest it regularly as well and try and get it before it goes to seed. But it will go to seed quite quickly. But just continue to sow it. This is the annual spinach and you'll continue to harvest nice crops off that for the coming months. Radish again continue to continue to sow. Possibly later in the month we'll start to switch to a winter variety and you know we can continue to sow these for the next couple of months. As the list gets smaller. The likes of these will still remain on it.
Speaker 1:
Lettuce, again same thing. You can still sow, you know, successionally on those, and again you can start to switch to more autumn stroke winter varieties later on, or there's a couple of them all year round. There's one that grows all year round and that's a good one, and then there's some other good ones. You know the arctic king I think name might be right, but there's, you know there's autumn varieties and winter varieties of lettuce and you can, you can start to switch to them from now on. Autumn salad leaves you know the usual mix of lettuce and you can. You can start to switch to them from now on. Yeah, autumn salad leaves, you know the usual mix of lettuce and rocket mustard, those ones. Then you can continue to sow some of the of the herbs that were kind of some succession into coriander, dill, shervel, those ones, parsley, again, you can still grow that.
Speaker 1:
And pak chai is another one. Now I haven't had a huge amount of success with pack chai, even in my polytone. For some reason it tends to it tends to go to seed. So I don't know whether it's because I'm sowing it too early, the temperatures are not sure exactly what it is, but continue to try it. Get some harvest off, but not a, not a, not a really good harvest, and you know that's. And then, along with the ones that would normally have come off the list that's kind of your, your sowing list in terms of the vegetable garden some flowers you can still be sowing and again, given the year that we've had, I think you know there's still an opportunity for some of the annuals, albeit that it's quite late, but maybe if they get growing really well now that you get some flower towards, you know, august, end of august, september, october and even maybe into early november. So it's just been a strange kind of a growing season.
Speaker 1:
Then, as I say, it's the huge part of it this year is, you know, all about at this time of the year is all about protecting and pending to what we have. So, with that in mind, like temperatures can get quite high, plant growth can be very soft at this time of the year and aphids can, you know, become a problem at this stage of the year. So just keep on top of that, keep an eye out for that. You know. You can jet them off with your water, you can use, uh, you know, on your, on your vegetable plots, you can use organic solutions and so on, and but definitely a good way to do it, as we spoke about before, is to incorporate, you know, more flour. That would bring in beneficials and those beneficials will take out your green fly and that's certainly worth doing. But keep an eye out for them because they do become or can become prevalent, you know, during this warm, these warm months.
Speaker 1:
Then other thing is slugs obviously again has continued to be, you know, a challenge this year. The wet weather early in the time and, you know, relatively warm weather has, I suppose, made that problem a little bit worse. And then you're looking at roof fly still cabbage and carrots. Keep an eye out for those. And our friend at this time of the year, or the one we watch out for a lot, is the white white butterfly and the caterpillar. You know the, the eggs that are laid and the caterpillar that develops from that can, can be decimate. Your, your brassicas particularly and you can be left with, you know, stalks. So just if you're not netting them with, you know, bio netting or enviro mesh or some of those, then what you need to be doing is checking regularly and watching out for those eggs, watching out for those caterpillars and picking them off and ensuring that your crops don't get badly damaged because they can at this stage of the year. So regular, regular check on that.
Speaker 1:
Then, in terms of your potatoes, keep an eye out for blight quite high pressure of blight currently at the moment. So just keep an eye on those and you know there's a couple of spray options out there at the moment and they're, you know, to keep your crops looking good. They're worth having and, you know, keep an eye. If you get badly infected, just get the leaves off as quick as you can, get the stalks off as quick as you can, you know, before it gets down into the tubers, and you might have a chance of, you know, saving some of your crop. And yeah, keep an eye out for that. I'm certainly myself keeping an eye out for slugs this year on potatoes. They seem to be growing really well. They seem to be growing really well. Again, I'm watching and I don't think I have any issues at the moment, but I'm definitely keeping an eye on it because the damage that they did last year was just so frustrating. And yeah, that's kind of the tending jobs Weeds, again, a light hoe in your beds on dry days.
Speaker 1:
If you do it on a dry day, those little seedlings that you hoe will be crisped up very quickly and won't regrow. And yeah, that's sort of a common one at that stage of the year Inside your polytunnel. When it comes to growing on your tomatoes, what you're really looking for at this stage is regular feeding, any of the side shoots that you're taking off. Try and do that job. You know the pruning of leaves, the pruning of side shoots. Try and do that job in the morning time and because what that does is it allows the daytime for the. You know the the wound where you've broken off your side shoot, for example. It allows that wound to dry out and because it dries out, you know it's less open, less susceptible to disease starting from there.
Speaker 1:
Keep any discolored leaves. Get them off as quick as you can. Get them out of the greenhouse. Keep airflow as good as you possibly can. Water in the morning time, so watering at the base of the plant, not the leaves. Keep them growing and the leaves as dry as you possibly can up top, and that would be a real, that would give you a real benefit in terms of you know any disease starting to build up. Don't leave any cuttings or clippings that you take off your tomatoes in the in the house. Get them over there and, you know, get them onto your compost heap once they've no. Once they've no, um, you know disease on them. Get them onto your compost heap once they've no. Once they've no, um, no, disease on them, get them out into your compost heap. But just don't leave them in the house and keep that whole growing area quite clean.
Speaker 1:
Don't be afraid to you know to to feed them on a regular basis. So at this stage of the year, every week. You know, good, a good seaweed feed, uh, would be a huge benefit to them. And, don't be afraid, also to, if you don't have much pollinators coming through your greenhouse to, you know, give your plants a rattle and a shake, try and get the. You know that pollination happen naturally as well. So you know all of those things will help. And airflow. Airflow is a big one at this stage of the year.
Speaker 1:
When it comes to watering, then as well, rather than going in every day and throwing a little bit of water on any of those plants in there I'm talking now about, you know, tomatoes, cucumbers, any of the squashes, anything that you have growing in your polytunnel or even outside, if you, if you are watering, don't do you know regular, real, regular waterings. So what happens then? If you're watering your tomatoes every second day, give them a, give them a little drop of water every second day. What happens is the roots don't have to work at all to to to gain access to the water or the you know moisture, so they stay up up high. The roots don't need to to work. So what you're looking to do is, once a week, give them a really deep watering. So a good drop of water on those days. Let a lot, a lot of water soak down into the ground, but then don't do anything for a week. Let it work a little bit, let those roots you know go searching, and that will give. That will lead to a stronger plant, a more resilient plant anyway.
Speaker 1:
So they're kind of the the tips, um, for the month of july, and I suppose that's the big thing uh, watering potatoes, watching out for blight, uh, supporting and and and pruning your tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, etc. Hoeing, watching out for pests, and, and, you know, act on that if you need to. And then keeping your, your beds full. So if you have, you know, played a crop that has just come out, or an onion crop that has just come out, make sure you have something to go back in there. You know, if, if you have, you know, plug plants that are ready to go, or if you don't get, you'll go, buy some and get them in there and get, give yourself an opportunity to get more harvest later in the year. Or if you've decided that you know you're, once you get to this time of the year, you're you're closing off certain beds, then definitely get, you know, a green manure into that.
Speaker 1:
Keep the ground covered as much as you possibly can, ripening fruit just keep an eye out for birds, as I said, and fruit, just keep an eye out for birds, as I said. They're going to be watching them as much as you are, so you're waiting on your black currants to turn to the perfect color. The birds are checking them every day, so the day that they're right or ripe, they'll be gone. So you, you need to keep an eye on that as much as they are. And you know, as I said, protect with a net or harvest as soon as they're ready. Don't leave them hanging around there because they'll be gone and gone very quickly. Sometimes people decide that you know, if they have enough of their own, they're going to designate one bush to leave for the birds, or they're going to take off 70% of the harvest and leave some for the birds. You know that's a possibility as well if you, if you feel like sharing it, if not, get them off because they won't wait for you and the way you might for them. So, yeah, definitely, definitely do that. And yeah, that's that's kind of the, the jobs.
Speaker 1:
When it comes to the, the veg garden, there's a lot less to be sowing, but there's still lots to be done and it's definitely a month you know where, a lot of to be sowing, but there's still lots to be done and it's definitely a month you know where, a lot of harvest. It's kind of peak harvest months July, end of June, july, august. They're the peak harvest months and I suppose they're enjoyable months in that you know it's a less pressurized growing than it would have been earlier in the time. So lots to be sowing and lots to be doing in the garden. The usual thing is watering, feeding you know, if you're talking about your, your flowers deadheading, uh, regular, regular trimming of those, making sure that you're getting fresh growth coming through, fresh flowers coming through, uh, feeding quite regularly. Things like hanging baskets and so on. Keeping on top of roses you know we spoke about that last week taking off any dead blooms, same for peonies or anything like that. Keeping all of those you know anything that has a potential rot on it and get them, get them off and that will allow that your blooms will come, come more and more forward. As I say, weather has been a little bit strange still and, you know, has meant that there's probably things on this list that we wouldn't typically have on the list in July. So that's your seed sowing guide for July. Again, people really find these helpful and useful at keeping them on track, so I hope it helps for this month. We'll be back in August with the August Sowing Guide and that'll be a very different one again, quite a lot smaller, and we'll be really tailing off at that stage.
Speaker 1:
A couple of good interviews coming up, open garden interviews and, yeah, lots of interesting ones in the pipeline. And next week's episode we're looking at the Carlow Garden Festival. So fantastic garden festival that's coming up and that's really worth checking out. There's some fantastic speakers, really good locations and, yeah, really worth checking out. So keep an eye out for next week's episode. And that's been this week's episode. Thanks for listening and until the next time, happy gardening, thank you.