TO DO IN JUNE
THINGS TO DO ON THE PLOT IN JUNE
Most crops can be safely planted directly into their final growing place for the next few weeks/momths
Sow Salad crops on a 3-4 week basis to ensure a continuous crop of good fresh new leaves. As soon as a plant looks tired or runs to seed, discard it to make space for repeat sowings.
This is the month for Strawberries. With any luck they should be plentiful. Protect the fruits from lying om bare soil where they will quickly be attacked by slugs and ants etc. Install some form of straw collar around the base of the plant, below this you could place a square of roofing felt preferably the type that has a coarse gravelly surface (this will help to reduce slug damage. Then construct some form of netting around 15-18 inches above the fruits to keep the birds off.
Should you wish to propagate from your existing plants as the runners develop over the next few weeks have some small pots filled with compost ready to peg down the little plantlets on the end of the runner. Particularly if you have a variety of fruit you particularly like it’s a means of getting NEW FREE plants. Gauge this activity to completely renew/expand your existing plants every three years or so to maintain healthy active crops.
THE JUNE DROP
Most hard fruits (apples pears and even plums) will cast excess fruit during the month of June- some as much as 30%?
Its a natural ANNUAL phenomena where the tree determines how much polinised fruit it can reasonably support throughout the ripening process, largely dependant on its memory bank experience in previous seasons.
More specific detail is available under "hard fruit" on the menu to avoid boring others with my obvious obsession for hard fruits?
Early potatoes should be ready for lifting about now. Roughly 12-14 weeks after planting-this is very much weather driven. Once the flowers appear is a good indicator. Should you want LARGER tubers it is recommended you remove the flowers as they appear and just keep carefully earthing the plants up to prevent sunlight turning the tubers green.
Keep earthing up Later varieties.
IF ??“Blight” should hit, where the leaves start to go yellow and wilt prematurely. CAREFULLY remove all top growth and either burn it or dispose of it responsibly ( Personally I take it off site and dispose of it in my BROWN bin) “MAKE SURE YOU WASH YOUR HANDS AND ANY TOOLS YOU MAY HAVE USED” .Be very careful NOT to enter any greenhouse until hands and clothes have been changed or washed ( The same blight will ALSO infect tomatoes !!) PLEASE DO NOT leaveve ANY infected plant material anywhere on the ground. It will simply spread the blight to the remaining cop more quickly.
Once you have removed the top growth the - ACTUAL potatoes may be left in the ground PROPERLY “earthed up” and lifted as needed- or- lifted and stored in HESSIAN or BROWN paper POTATO sacks. Plastic sacks are not recommended for this purpose! ( Plastic sacks tend to encourage potatoes to sweat and rot )
By leaving them in the ground, just ensuring they stay earthed up and lifting a bucketful as and when you need them , you may well lose a few to slugs but probably less than putting them in sacks or bags
It is essential stored produce is examined every week as rot spreads FAST when there is no air flow.