So here in the northern hemisphere we are nearly at the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Our kitchen gardens and smallholdings are in full swing, in my part of Britain alternately suffering heavy rain and enjoying bright sunshine.
Peas
Farm in My Pocket has a great article about growing all kinds of peas: click here. Marrow fat, petit pois, round, wrinkled, fat, flat, tall, short, you’ll find them all here.
Tomatoes
Summer brings such deliciousness: there really is nothing like a traditional variety tomato picked and eaten straight from the vine. The supermarkets can keep both their tasteless mush and their carefully plastic-wrapped premium varieties. Next year I’m planning to try some of these varieties.
Here come the slugs
But of course the bigger the fruit and vegetable bounty, the bigger the slugs. At Selfsufficient-ish, they have a timely article 51 organic ways to get rid of slugs. From the traditional beer traps and crushed eggshells to the gruesome, funny and existential, this is well worth a read.
And finally…
There’s a series of free e-books on aspects of permaculture available here.
The polytunnels, bees and foxgloves at Arigna Gardener are all doing well, and I’m enjoying looking at this week’s selection of delicious loaves, rolls, sweet and flat breads at Wild Yeast.
And talking of cooking, look out for this month’s cookery column from our expert Mel Barrett, later this week.