I’ve added another article in my Month by Month series. Topically, it’s What to do in the Garden in August and  when I add September the year will be complete.

In the July article I wrote July is usually one of the driest months so a lot of time may be spent watering That’s what I call getting it wrong! Of course nobody predicted we’d have the awful weather we have had and I’m trying to provide a general guide for years to come.

Of course, with climate change, this is getting more and more difficult. The art of gardening is not following an exact recipe where things are planted on the exact date in the book but in adapting to the season and weather. Unexpected frosts late in the year can be devastating but so can a winter that’s too warm and doesn’t provide the hard frosts we want to kill off pests and break up heavy soils with a freeze thaw cycle.

Val (my wife) has written a few articles on bottling fruit and vegetables for the site. Bottling, or canning as it is called in the USA, has benefits over freezing for keeping the fruit’s shape and texture. These are in the Allotment Foods section of Information.

• Bottling / Canning Introduction & Equipment Required
• Bottling / Canning Preparation of Fruit & Vegetables
• Bottling / Canning: Various Methods of
• Bottling / Canning Time Charts for Methods

Because you do need some equipment such as bottles, seals and thermometers we’ve added a Cookware Section to the allotment shop as well.

She’s busy writing some articles on jam making now, but the sun is finally (touch wood) shining so they may take a while to get online!