It's almost summer here in the Netherlands. The temperatures are getting higher and it hasn't been raining for a couple of weeks now. And there probably isn't going to be rain in the next two weeks either.
A couple of weeks ago I installed a rain barrel that collects rain from the drainpipe that comes from my roof, but since it hasn't been raining since I've installed it, it is still empty.
So I still have to water the plants with drinking water 😟
I did make an adjustment to the garden that should prevent the soil from drying out quickly; I applied mulch!
I've been following some gardening vlogs and stumbled upon mulching. With mulching you apply a layer of grass or straw on top of your soil which has a few advantages.
The first one is that the sun doesn't directly shine on the soil so it won't dry out that quickly. Apart from that the mulch stays moist as well.
Another advantage is that it makes it more complicated for weeds to grow. They first have to find their way through the mulch and when they manage to do so they don't get any sun.
It doesn't stop the weeds from growing, but there are a lot less weeds than before the mulch.
And finally the mulch slowly decomposes which works as a fertilizer.
I have used fresh cut grass from my lawn to cover the soil. You just keep the plants free from the mulch and add some more over time to keep the layer thick enough.
The cucumbers don't have the best spot. They don't get a lot of sun, but this was the only place left. They do grow, so that is positive. The one on the richt gets the most sun probably.
I've even spotted the first flower which indicates the start of a cucumber! I'm excited to see how these develop.
Compared to the cucumbers the Zucchini's do amazingly well. They have grown steadily and they have lots of flowers. I found out you can help the flowers fertilize by transferring pollen with a cue tip from the male flower to a female flower.
Zucchini's can grow quite big and expand quite fast, so I've 'only' planted four of them.
And the first Zucchini's are starting to form after a week. They are still small, but growing fast!
The tomato plants are in a nice and sunny spot. They are growing quite nicely. I think I've found the first starting tomatoes on the plant.
I've learned that you have to prune the abundant side stems that the plant grows so the most energy will go to growing the tomatoes itself.
The peppers are next to the tomatoes. It's funny to see the difference in size despite the fact that I planted them at the same time. I think some of them might have developed more roots or something.
And then to the fruits. The apple tree already has about 20 small apples. I really didn't expect this because we planted it last year and trees usually invest the most in their roots in the first year. At least that is what I thought.
I did spot a lot of aphids on some of it's leaves. I googled if it could could do harm, but it doesn't. It does look nasty I think. I've checked for a biologic solution to get rid of them, but I decided to let nature solve it. The ants are heaving a feast. Larvae of ladybugs seem to do a good job as well, but somehow I haven't spotted any of them in my backyard yet.
If I do, I'll move them to my apple tree to eat all the aphids.
As every year the raspberry plant does extremely well. There are loads of raspberries on the bush and the first ones are starting to change colour already. Soon I will be having fresh raspberries in my cereal.
I had planted some forest strawberries a while ago. It took them a long time, but some of the seeds have sprouted. They are still very small, but they are growing.
Since we love strawberries my wife bought a strawberry plant in a pot. This one already bears some fruits.
The blueberry plant is also bearing some fruits. I had one before, but that one never had any berries. But that had to do with the placement and the soil. It now has a very sunny spot and I gave it the acidic soil which it need.
A couple of weeks ago I showed the curled leaves of my almond tree. I've taken them all off and this seems to have done the trick. Every time I spot a leaf that looks a bit odd, I take it off. The tree looks pretty healthy to me now.
And.... it has a lot of almonds! Some of them are really big. But this is the hull that holds the shell which contains the almond. So I'll be happy when I have a handful of almonds at the end of the summer.
Oh well, we didn't buy it to become self-sufficient. We bought it because it is a lovely tree and has nice blossom. The few almonds are just a bonus.
Thanks for visiting my #hivegarden #gardenjournal blog.
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