Fruit Garden Tasks To Do In June

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fruit growing, gardening, jobs for june, june gardening tips, recycle works, recycleworks

If you’d like to look after your fruit garden, then here is a list of jobs that may be applicable for getting out in the garden in June:

• Pinch-prune figs. By pinching out the growing point of new shoots, this encourages a heaver crop of fruits
• Thin out fruitlets of apples, pleases, peaches and plums this month to ensure that those that remain have room to swell.
• Move citrus trees outside and gradually acclimatise them to the higher levels by opting for a shady spot for the first two weeks.
• Peg down strawberry runners if you’d like to propagate from your stock.
• Thin out new shoots of raspberries to ease congestion.
• Cover ripening cherries with sheets of clear polythene during wet weather as this prevents the fruit skin cracking.

Then you can reap the benefits of your hard work and enjoy eating your produce!

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Fruit Flavoured Vinegars Make Great Sauces – Easy to Follow Recipe

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Fruit vinegars are usually made from soft fruits such as blackberries or raspberries, bilberries and currants.

To make a wonderful fruit vinegar simply follow this ultra easy recipe. To each kilo of ripe fruit add one litre of best distilled malt vinegar. Place in a porcelain bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to stand for 3-5 days, stirring occasionally. Strain and add 1k of sugar to 1lt fruit vinegar and boil for 10 minutes.

Store in sterilised, glass bottles.

Plums make more robust vinegar good for flavouring meat sauces!

July is Traditionally The Month To Water Wisely

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We may now be in July but as the weather has got warmer and drier, many of us are going off on our Summer holidays just when our plants need us most!

Even at this time of year it’s worth rigging up a water butt, even maybe a few, especially if your meter is watered and you have fast growing, fruiting plants.

Don’t forget thought to apply water to the roots, underneath the foliage early morning or evening and maybe even think about spreading some mulch over the top of it to seal it in.

 

Jobs For The Fruit Garden In June

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fruit, fruit growing, gardening, gardening works, jobs for june, june gardening tips, recycle works, recycleworks

If you’d like to look after your fruit garden, then here is a list of jobs that may be applicable for getting out in the garden in June:

• Pinch-prune figs. By pinching out the growing point of new shoots, this encourages a heaver crop of fruits
• Thin out fruitlets of apples, pleases, peaches and plums this month to ensure that those that remain have room to swell.
• Move citrus trees outside and gradually acclimatise them to the higher levels by opting for a shady spot for the first two weeks.
• Peg down strawberry runners if you’d like to propagate from your stock.
• Thin out new shoots of raspberries to ease congestion.
• Cover ripening cherries with sheets of clear polythene during wet weather as this prevents the fruit skin cracking.

Slug Gone – Organic, Environmentally Friendly And A Great Feed Product!

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Slug Gone’s natural pure organic wool pellets are manufactured from the fleece of sheep. Wool fibres have very fine scales with small barbs on the tip called cuticle cells. These cause wool fibres to felt and matt together. Wool fibres are very hygroscopic and this plus the sand and grit already in the compound and the potassium salts from the sweat glands of the sheep absorb some of the slime from the slug’s foot to cause irritation, resulting in the slug finding easier feeding methods.

‘Slug Gone’ wool pellets are composed of 100% natural materials including phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium. As soon as water is added the fibres swell to form a barrier or insulation blanket. When slugs climb onto the fibres it irritates the foot and causes it to seek easier feeding elsewhere.

‘Slug Gone’ wool pellets are ideal for organic gardening and can be used in pots, flower beds, borders, allotments, herb gardens, nurseries, garden centres, green houses and vegetable plots.

To Use:

Clean the area around the plant and place the pellets to fill the surface of the pot, or in a 6” circle around the plant. Make sure all the pellets are touching.
Water well and soon the pellets will swell and bind together to form both a prtotective and insulating blanket.

Available in money saving 20 litre bags.

Gardening Works – In Harmony With Nature

Our Own Gardening Works Recipe for Fresh Tomato Soup

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We’re huge fans of freshly made soups at Gardening Works.  Like a lot of traditional cooking, soup making is so easy, but is often forgotten in these days of convenience.  …But as soon as you’ve tried your own you won’t ever want to open another tin. 

I like to make a huge pan of soup on a Sunday evening and then the family help themselves for a healthy lunch or after school snack.

With a glut of tomatoes just around the corner, this recipe produces a lovely creamy soup, full of flavour…….. But don’t forget the bay leaf as it really adds a little something to the mix.

Ingredients
Knob of butter
1 clove of garlic
1 bay leaf
1 onion
1 medium potato
1 lb fresh tomatoes
dash of tomato puree
1 pint vegetable stock
quantity of milk

What to do

1. Chop the onion and gently fry in the butter until clear
2. Add a clove of crushed garlic, mix and fry a little longer
3. Peel and chop the potato and add
4. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add
5. Add in the bay leaf and stock
6. Simmer gently for 20 minutes
7. Allow to cool
8. Remove the bay leaf
9. Blend until smooth
10. Add milk as desired to obtain preferred thickness
11. Reheat before serving

Serve with crusty bread or my children’s favourite – cheese on toast croutons!

…And it’s always worth remembering that food tastes one hundred times better if you grow your own!  For all your Grow Your Own needs visit our website at Gardening Works