Gardening in June and how to beat boredom making your own seed balls
Early summer is a wonderful time in the garden. If you're looking, you can watch things grow every day!
- Sowing and planting will be a major job in the veg patch in June. In most places the soil will be warm enough to direct sow lots of things. Continue sowing carrots, dwarf French beans, sugar snap peas, radish, lettuce and other salad leaves for a succesional harvest
- “One year’s seed, seven years weed” is how the saying goes. Chickweed can complete its life cycle in 5-6 weeks and will produce up to 20,000 seeds per plant. So make sure you stay on top of your weeds at this time of year especially!
- Pinch out side-shoots of your tomatoes and get them tied up and supported well
- Grow lots of insect-attracting flowers and herbs (e.g. borage, chives) to bring in the beneficial creatures such as parasitic wasps, ladybirds etc
- Make your own liquid feeds out of comfrey, nettle, compost tea etc
- Protect your brassicas from cabbage white butterfly (and pigeons) by covering it with netting
If it's a plant pot, wild patch in your garden or in the park, sowing flowers brings joy and provides nectar and pollen to little crawly creatures and beneficial insects. Making your own seed bombs is the perfect activity for kids and just a fun thing to do on a sunny afternoon.
How to make seed balls?
Ingredients:
- Flower seeds (try cosmos, phacelia, calendula, Californian poppy or a mixture of those)
- Seed compost
- Garden soil with a high clay content or potters clay from the craft shop
- Water, a mixing bowl and a sunny place for drying
- Mix 1 part compost with 1 part garden soil. If you are using potters clay use 5 parts of compost to 2-3 parts of clay powder in a bowl.
- Slowly add the water. Use your hands to mix everything until it all sticks together
- Roll the mixture into balls
- Leave the balls in a tray or plastic board (or tupperware lid) to dry in a sunny spot
- Once fully dried, they are ready to go!
When planting your seed balls, preparation of the soil can be helpful for the seeds to grow. Also allow some space for the mature size of the flowers. For optimal results, push each ball into the ground a little and water well.
Enjoy!
P.S. One more week until our popular Second Spring seed collection is back in stock!
Vital Seeds Ltd
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