Drought

The courgette and summer squash bed, at last coming together. I had intended to do this, here, last year. This was a thicket of goldenrod - that must have self-seeded, and then formed an impenetrable, invasive patch. Instead of digging it all out, I'm trying 'no dig', so cutting it down to the roots, putting down a thick layer of cardboard, then a mulch of compost, manure, and coir mixed with seaweed fertiliser pellets, to a depth of at least six inches.

30/06
The heat subsided a little after a couple of days, but there's no rain in sight. The garden beds are okay with that - established plants will be fine for a while yet. But I still have hundreds of pots. It's been an advantage in one sense - as I clear a space and add a load of fresh compost or manure, I can pop them in and it looks instantly mature, like a show garden without the polish, but the downside is that until planted, they dry out very quickly, so they are constantly teetering on the edge of death by dessication.

Meanwhile, my compost came. I was tired of buying it bag by bag wherever it could be found cheaply nearby - the local convenience store, the supermarket, the nearest sort-of garden centre - then running out in a few days. All that potting has burned through hundreds of litres (although it's worth remembering that it'll all go back into the garden, either as the plants are put into the ground, or when they die), but for no-dig, the method I'm using for some of the most challenging beds, I need enough to coat the ground to a depth of several inches. So I ordered a 900 litre builder's bag, and it came on the hottest day of the year. As they could only wheel it partway down the driveway, I immediately had to shovel it into the wheelbarrow and cart the whole lot away so it wasn't blocking the car. Actually that didn't take long, but it's already being used up fast, and I'm contemplating having to get another sackful in the coming week.

I envisage that at *some* point, the garden will require less input. But maybe I'm deluding myself. Surely some of the slack in months to come will be taken by compost made here, and once the beds are thickly mulched, they'll require less anyway. But there's always so much that needs to be done - thirsty pots, seedlings straining at their modules, plants getting too big and crying out for a permanent home. I look at other people with gardens I aspire to, or even allotments, and wonder how on earth they manage - especially with all the other stuff that most people's lives involve, be it jobs, children, travelling, and so on. I feel utterly inadequate. This year I set out to do more than ever before, and I have done, but if 80% of the plants never get to harvest, it will naturally still feel like I've failed.

I am not a thoroughly negative person, but I have to be honest. Perhaps other people have help? I can't rely on anyone else, so it's a constant battle with lethargy and doubt. And still I wait for a substantial harvest, half the year gone already.

02/07
I've carried on with jobs around the garden, and made progress. I'm still in the foothills of the mountain that needs to be climbed, but I'm moving in the right direction. The heat has built again, and there is still no sign of rain...

Harvests
30/06 - 50g strawberries
01/07 - 5g courgette flowers, 70g lettuce
YTD total: 1.855kg