HOW I'M PREPARING MY ALLOTMENT FOR ANOTHER HEATWAVE / Allotment gardening UK

It's really bitter. Right, this is actually sheep's wool. And that does not smell floral. Good morning everyone, welcome back to my allotment diaries. My name is Emma, these are the allotment diaries. We are going into another heat wave here in the UK, so not going to be quite as hot as last time, but definitely getting up there to 32, 33 degrees pretty much every day. And the most important thing about the heat wave is that it's going to be blue skies and sunny every single day, which means that things will dry out very quickly. The sun, in my opinion anyway, well not my opinion, I mean it's sort of a fact, the sun is very hot. It's a ball of fire in the sky. When you have a heat wave and it's literally blue skies and sunny and you don't get any cloud coverage at all, that's when your garden has the biggest problem. Because that's really when everything starts to really dry out. And even if you just water, so with watering in the heat wave, don't water little and often, you have to water really deep and sort of, I don't know what the opposite would be of shortened... Doing a little sprinkling in the mornings won't help your plants. Doing a really deep, intense water once every couple of days in a heat wave will help much more. So choose a time when it's not brilliant sunshine and really hot, like not right now basically. So early in the morning or late at night. Morning's better because then the slugs don't come out. If you do it in night time the slugs will come out. So water early in the morning and water for a long time. Hold your hose or watering can over your plants for a long time, then go water something else, then come back again and do a second watering really deep. Do a third watering if you want to. And then that way the water will get really deep in the ground. Anyway, in today's video I'm going to be doing a few things to help my plot with the heat wave. That's basically why I'm here, to try and protect everything from it. So I've brought a couple of things with me. The first thing that we're going to do is really water everything. I think you can see that everything is looking fantastical, particularly in the sunshine today. It's just looking great. You're going to see my shadow a lot in this vlog, but there we go. This pumpkin is looking fantastic, really starting to climb my archway. Let's see if the jack belittles are there. Oh wow, by some miracle he has actually survived. Now I don't know if this is a response to the nematodes that I've put down. I've used nematodes, which are, I think I said they're a slug that eats slug, they're a worm that eats slugs. And so you're basically putting these little microscopic worms into your soil which attack slugs. I won't be able to comment on whether this has worked or not for a little while, because they need to get going and I need to plant stuff out and I need to assess the damage. I do have nematodes down now in my pumpkin beds and I'm really hoping that that helps a lot with the slug damage. The jack belittles are still alive. I don't know if that means it's working or I don't know if I just got lucky. This one down here seems to be alive as well. So I don't know, it might actually be that they're working or it could just be luck. I mean, there are a lot weeds around this, so you would imagine slugs could get to it. I don't know. Okay, so when I'm watering, I'm watering on the ground around the roots of my plant. I'm not going over the top of all the leaves because the roots are what need the water, not the leaves. It's actually a myth that if you water your leaves, it will burn them. They actually won't burn. It's just about getting the water where the plant needs it, which is the roots. Can you see here how the water is pooling on top of the soil? I know it's very, very sunny, but you see how it's pooling on top of the soil. Now this is very typical when the weather starts to get very hot. That's because the top of our soil has completely dried out and turned almost like concrete. So it's like a solid area now. So even if your soil is really free draining, it's likely that it will harden up on the top during a heat wave. So the first water is going to pool on the top into puddles. Basically, you need to wait for it to sink in, and then you can water again. And that's how the water is going to get down deep in the ground. So then hopefully the water will start to travel down deep into the ground and feed all the roots, which is what your plants need. Right, I've got my new carrot seedlings in here, and I've covered it with cardboard, which has kept it fairly moist under there, actually, I have to say. And that's another great hack for heat waves, basically. If you water and then you mulch it over with cardboard or some kind of wool or something, it can lock in all the moisture. Might water over the cardboard as well. Right, something else that I'm using to lock in moisture when I've watered is this stuff. Sheep's wool. Right, this is actually sheep's wool, which is actually quite crazy because when ordered it, I did order it knowing it was sheep's wool, but it's literally just been sheared from the sheep, which is quite incredible. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe like some wool or something, but this is actually wool that's been sheared from the sheep. Is it called wool if it's just come straight from the sheep? I don't know, I don't live in the country. But it smells like the farm, smells like sheep. It's absolutely incredible. This is supposed to be really good at locking in moisture, even better than cardboard. Cardboard can dry out quite quickly. I think with sheep's wool, it doesn't dry out so quickly. And also I think cardboard would attract slugs and snails. And I think the sheep's wool maybe won't so much. In fact, I think it might be a good deterrent against the slugs and snails. I've already got wool pellets down. So I'm going to put this around my crops. So this has all been really well watered. So we're just literally going to mulch. And I'm really sticking around the roots because that's where I really want the water to stay. I think any kind of mulching at all is going to lock in moisture because you're basically just putting a blanket over the top of your soil and keeping everything under it wet. I don't think you'll be too surprised to hear that the main concern of mine is this greenhouse because it does get extortionately hot. Extortionately hot? Incredibly hot. You know what I'm trying to say. The heat's already going to my head, guys. I don't know what I'm saying. The thing is, is I left the door open last time and the cat kept coming in and digging everything up. And now that it's neat in here and there's quite a lot of kind of space on the earth, I know he's going to dig even more. So I really don't want him coming in here. But I did buy a greenhouse cover, which I've never used before. It's supposed to give a little bit of shade in here. So I might give that a go. I'm not sure where I was planning on going from there. OK, it's going a bit better. I've decided just to cover literally the roof panels and I think that's just going to keep enough sun out. I don't think I need to worry about the side because of the overgrowth. One of the good things about it all being overgrown is it's keeping it quite cool. Or is it going to blow away? I don't quite know how I've managed to do this, but I have managed to do it. And the whole top of the greenhouse is covered equally on both sides. Look at that. That's pretty neat, isn't it? I'm not entirely sure how to get it to stay. I think it might need, it might need like string and then some pegs. So you kind of peg it in like that, like a bit of a tent. But I don't have that stuff. I sort of hoped it would go right down to the ground. But obviously it just covers the roof. And then inside there is definitely a reduction in that bright sunshine, which is exactly what I was after, to be fair. It's that bright sunshine, like I said, that kind of kills everything, but it still allows quite a lot of light through. I think this is good. I think this is good. Can I still keep the windows open? I think I can. I obviously don't want the windows closed, but I can't open them outwards. Slide them across. I can kind of slide them open. I think that would be good. Don't break, don't break. Yeah, there we go. So kind of like the windows open. Yes. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. We've got the airflow in here. We've got the windows open, just slid across. That's really good, isn't it? I'm really happy with these. Are you happy tomatoes? Most importantly, I think they are, you know, look at those in there. They look absolutely fantastic. And then my one that's dying, part of it is coming back to life and part of it is now dead, dead, dead. So I think I might prune it and just take off these really dead bits. Anyway, hopefully that sort of helped with the impending heat wave just a little bit, so I don't have to panic so much this time. I think that will make a difference. And then obviously I'm wanting to keep the wildlife pond topped up. The thing with the wildlife pond is a lot of creatures start to rely on that water source. As soon as all the wildlife find it and they, as soon as all the wildlife find it, they kind of start to assume it's always going to be there and they start to rely on it as a water source. So it's really important to keep it topped up. I've got some new plants in here, which I know I put in, but I haven't seen for a long time. All these little leaves here in the pond, this is duckweed. I put this in ages ago and nothing happened with it and I never saw it again and it's all starting to multiply and come back. So it must really like these conditions. And then look at the sheer amount of flies in here. Honestly, where are the frogs? They should be eating all of these. Over there, my water lilies coming to life. These take such a long time to get going. You know, I've got one in my home garden and it's taken nearly two years for the lily pads. Are these lily pads? I think they are to get sort of a substantial size, but it's such a beautiful plant and it's obviously doing okay. It's floating. Is that okay that it's floating? Should it not be rooted down somewhere or is it okay just to float? I mean, it's alive, so I'm assuming it's sort of okay. I think it's my favourite thing in there. It's a shame that the flies are landing on it and not frog. If I ever saw a frog on one of these, I think it would complete my life. Look at the amount of flies. I'm not going to do anything guys because I always get told off when I sort of try to manage the fly population. I really thought the frogs would be on this. Where are the frogs? They wouldn't even have to try. Right, it's all sort of looking okay. It's definitely not the day to do any strenuous kind of weeding or anything. So, you know, how it is, is how it's sort of going to have to be for a little bit. We'll come back to weeding when it's a little bit cooler. Sweet peas were leaving alone to make seeds. And then I did notice over here that my main crop potatoes have all flowered, which is so unbelievably beautiful. And a lot of fun crops do flower in heat. So when they feel the heat coming, they start to throw up their flowers. Actually with potatoes, I don't think it's such a good thing because I think it starts to focus their energy into making their seeds and not on the tubers under the ground. And what we want them to do is make us really good potatoes, not flowers. So at the moment, all the energy of these potatoes are going into making the flowers. So what I'm actually going to do really sadly is chop them all off, which is a shame because they are so, so beautiful, such beautiful flowers. But main crop take about four and a half months and these are nowhere near ready yet. So we're going to have to chop these off and tell them to get back to work making our potatoes. Stop fuffing about making flowers, guys. I do feel a bit sad doing this to them. I feel like they're crying. Oi, what are you doing? We put a lot of work into these. I know they have. I know you've put a lot of work into them and they are absolutely stunning. They don't really smell. I suppose they do a little bit. Oh, that's a really weird smell. That is a really unique smell and I've definitely smelled that before and I can't quite put my finger on where I've smelled it before. It's a little bit stale. It's a little bit stale, a little bit like stale bread or something maybe. Or like a stale sheet. Like when you've opened up an airing cupboard after a long time and you've got that kind of stale sheet smell. Yeah, maybe like that. Definitely not unpleasant as a smell. Maybe not something I'd want to have in my house. Just a little bit unique, a little bit weird. Just a weird flower smell. You sort of expect flowers to smell quite perfumey and sweet and sort of floral and that does not smell floral. It smells stale. Pretty though. And then the last heatwave related thing I'm doing is I'm going to pick some of these lettuces which are starting to bolt. I actually don't know if this one's maybe gone too far. That might not taste good anymore. Actually, we should do a bit of a taste test and see. The problem is, particularly with lettuces, is that when they bolt, they start to taste really bitter. I think there's sort of like a bit in between where they're kind of okay still and you can pick them, but I think this one might have gone too far. The only real way of knowing is to taste it. No, it's really bitter. It's really, really, really bitter. It's really bitter. Wow. That just literally just needed to touch my tongue to know that that is far too bitter. I wonder if the other one is as well. I'm a bit scared to try it now. This one sort of does look like it might have not gone too far. No. Okay, that one's not as bad, but it still does have that bitter taste. Let me just try one that hasn't bolted and make sure that they're not just bitter. I'm concerned now that they're... Oh no, that one is lovely. That was absolutely lovely. So these ones here are no good to me anymore because they've gone really, really bitter. The ones that have not bolted still taste quite sweet. So they're okay. I actually might leave these to flower because the pollinators absolutely love them. I've left the rocket to flower because I'm going to collect the seeds, but you can actually eat the flowers. So if you've got rocket and it's flowered, you can eat the flowers. I've never actually tried a rocket flower before. I might actually just try one quickly. I might try one quickly because I've just told you to pick them and eat them and I've never eaten one myself. So, chin chin. It's fine. It doesn't actually taste like rocket. It has kind of like a subtle taste. It doesn't taste bad. I guess it would look quite pretty if you put all those little rocket flowers over a salad or something. Yeah, it tastes okay actually. Thank goodness. I was panicking about that one. I'm going to leave mine to flower so I can collect the seeds though. I don't quite know when the right time to collect the seeds is, but I am going to find out soon because they are starting to die back a bit and I know rocket seeds are really small. So I think it's a case of putting an envelope over the top of them and shaking them into the envelope. But we will come to that when we come to it. At the moment, they're mainly just sort of flowering. So we'll worry about that another day, I think. And because of the heatwave, that is me out of here. I think I've done enough to try to keep everything alive if I can't get here for a couple of days because obviously when it's really hot, it is really difficult to get down here and to want to do anything because it's just like, it is just so burning hot down here. I thought I'd just give you a little update on how I'm feeling because the anxiety is still pretty bad. I'm pushing through, but I am sort of, it's leaving me feeling like exhausted all the time. So I feel so, so, so tired, like constantly, which I think is just because my mind is racing all the time and it's just really hard to keep it together when you have this kind of impending doom all the time. I am having waves now where it goes and then it comes back again. So I'm hoping it's kind of getting better. I think it's a lot to do with the house move, a lot to do with like worrying about keeping on top of the allotment, worrying about like my garden at home, worrying about my kids and stuff like this, just a lot going on. So I think there's sort of like reasons for it or reasons why it's heightened, but it's just one of those things that I think you just have to kind of get through. And I always find that no matter how bad it gets, if I don't try and sort of get up and push through and do normal things, it does get a lot worse. So it's really important for me to keep going, which is why you're seeing so many videos still. I'm literally coming here feeling anxious, just pushing through. I think that's just the only way that I can cope with it. But I massively appreciate all your comments and sharing your experiences with me and just wishing me well. I will just continue to push these vlogs out. If I'm not quite myself in one, it's because I'm feeling anxious, but being here makes me feel better. So I'm not sort of putting myself out by making these. I actually really enjoy making them. And I hope you're still enjoying watching them. Let me know what you're doing for the heatwave, how you're protecting your allotment plot. And I will hopefully be back on Monday with another vlog, though we will be in the midst of a heatwave. So bear with me. Thank you so much for watching guys, as always, and I will see you in my next one. Bye!