It’s amazing what a few nice sunny days can do and what a change it can make in the garden. We got that weather during the last two weeks of June and all of the vegetables came on in leaps and bounds and the soil eventually warmed up after a cold spring.

Peas and broad beans all started to fill, potatoes came on, as did all the brassica family, and we are starting to use all these vegetables now. The lettuce went to seed in the hot weather so that’s why it’s good to have some coming on all of the time. A few seeds need to be sown every few weeks to keep up a supply for summer.

Most of the fruit has been harvested and turned into jam, some of this will be sold for charity at bring and buy sales and at the house. People love to get a nice pot of homemade jam produced using organic fruit from the garden.

It’s the middle of July now and some seeds need to be sown for spring use, cabbage being one of them. I sow Wheelers Imperial as I find it comes into nice white cabbage from late March onwards. I sow it in containers as I find it is easier to mind and it’s away from the slugs and bugs, but remember it has to be kept moist. It should be ready to transplant at the end of August.

I usually sow it into where potatoes were dug out, as the soil there is fertile enough if farmyard manure is used. Manure should be spared as the plants will grow too soft to stand up to harsh winter weather. Iceberg, the winter lettuce, can be sown in a small tunnel covered with clear plastic. This will give you a supply of salad leaves all winter. Sometimes it is best to sow this lettuce in a container and transplant later into the tunnel to avoid the small ground slug that will devour the seedling.

I get lots of gardening questions that I usually can help with, but recently I was asked if I could help with ants coming into the house from the garden. I never had this problem but I know they can give a severe sting. I read recently that it’s not a sting but their urine that they inject. I often wondered why they were called pismires. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help that lady.

My daughter and I recently attended a service in Abbeyleix for all those people who lost their lives in farm accidents. It was a sad occasion for their relatives and friends. Great care must be taken nowadays with all the high-power machinery. I always say never take chances, it’s not worth it. Care should be taken also when handling animals as my own husband was nearly killed by a bull back in the 1950s. Those were the days when farmers brought cows from all over the place, leaving an angry bull in the bull park.

I hope to meet some of my readers at the Tullamore Show on 10 August. Hopefully the sun shines.

Contact me at lilysgarden1@gmail.com