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Zucchini Blossom End RotSo I was wondering why the zucchini plants growing in one bed were half the size of the ones growing in another. The answer became apparent as the zucchs set. The soil in one bed is lacking in calcium. The signs being a nasty little problem called Blossom End Rot.

I’m ok with it as I’m drowning in zucchini at the moment and I’m choosing to see this as a valuable garden lesson. Still, I don’t like to see unhappy plants. I’ll be laying them to rest in the compost and adding lime and crushed egg shells to the soil, reapplying mulch and hoping for better healthier plants next time around. I’ll do a soil test in the future to see if I got it right.

Zucchini Blossom End Rot is not your friend! Make sure you look after your soil and avoid these problems!

Angelica archangelicaYesterday was an absolutely gorgeous Labour Day, which saw me spring cleaning the garden. My medicinal herb garden got a general weed and several species avoided strangulation by the kikuyu, St John’s wort and violets which are running mad. The calendula got tidied up and the chamomile is doing well. And it’s really nice to see my bloodwort, comfrey, goldenrod and marshmallow making stellar returns.

I planted out my shallots and transplanted the Jerusalem artichokes to somewhere a bit more agreeable.So they don’t interfere with my more valuable root crops – good garlic is extremely important.

I have angelica Angelica archangelica going crazy in random places all over the garden so I need to find some uses. I might need to try this angelica liquer and all 17 of these angelica recipes to try to get it back under control. Now is time to harvest the stems, but I’ll keep plenty on to get some of the roots in autumn. Plants for a Future has a great write-up on it. I love that project!

More gardening adventures after the jump…
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