What's looking good this week?
At this time of year, mid-May, some things suddenly burst forth in the polytunnels, and we thought it would be nice to ask our growing team for their Top of the Crops – plants that are in their prime, looking healthy, strong and abundant!
Lavender
Such a great addition to the garden – grow it in pots or plant in borders or a herb bed. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot and enjoy watching all the bees visit the purple flowers through the summer. You can use the flowers for adding flavour to cakes and shortbread, or cut them to dry for their soothing scent.
Courgette ‘Green Bush’
These plants are looking splendid at the moment! They are our most popular courgette variety, producing a huge crop of classic looking courgettes. You can plant them in large pots, or straight into the ground/raised beds. Courgettes are thirsty plants, so water them well and often.
Aubergine ‘Black Beauty’
If you have a greenhouse or polytunnel, or a lovely garden that is a bit of a suntrap, then aubergines should do really well as they just love warmth. You can grow them in containers or plant into the ground, just make sure you give them plenty of good rich compost/soil to nourish them, and choose the warmest, most sheltered (from the wind) spot that you can.
Raspberry Canes
We have various different varieties of raspberry now at the perfect point for planting out – they are just the right height, lovely and leafy and you should get your first crop this year.
You can choose between summer fruiting varieties (Glen Ample, Tullameen, Yummy) which can be harvested through the summer and then pruned in late autumn by cutting back those canes that bore fruit, or autumn fruiting varieties (Autumn Bliss, All Gold) which can be harvested in autumn and then cut right back to the ground.
If planting in the ground, the easiest way to plant raspberry canes is to arrange them in a triangle, leaving 45cm between each plant. This way, you can put a 1-1.5m tall bamboo stake in the centre and tie the canes loosely together around the cane for support. You can also plant them individually in fairly large pots, and just give them a bamboo cane in each pot (Yummy is the exception as this is a dwarf variety, so no need to stake it)
Order Some Plants
To order any of our Top of the Crops plants this week, scroll to the right below...
