#620 Summer Pruning, Soil Testing, and Fermentation: Making the Most of the Harvest

Welcome back to another episode of the Veg Grower Podcast, where I share what’s happening on my allotment and in my kitchen garden here in Littlehampton, West Sussex. This week has been a busy one with summer pruning, experimenting with soil testing, and answering a brilliant listener question about fermentation. Allotment Update – Summer Pruning The bank holiday weekend gave me extra time on the plot, and I’ve focused on summer pruning. Stone fruits like cherries and plums can’t be pruned in winter, so this is the time to give them attention. Starting with dead, diseased, or damaged wood, I worked through shaping the trees and preventing crossing branches. Apples and pears also had a light tidy-up to keep them healthy. It always feels counterintuitive to cut branches off, but it makes such a big difference to the harvest. I mention a good book I ahve found for pruning and this book canbe found here. Kitchen Garden – Soil Testing Back at home, I carried out a soil test to find out exactly what my soil needs. Using a simple kit, I discovered my soil is slightly alkaline (perfect for brassicas), potassium and phosphorus levels are fine, but nitrogen is low. That explains why leafy crops sometimes struggle. To address this, I’ll be sowing field beans as a green manure this winter – a natural way to add nitrogen back into the soil. The test kit used can be found here. Chef Scott's recipe of the week. The harvests continue to be plentiful – tomatoes, chillies, aubergines, cabbages, and more. Chef Scott has also shared a delicious recipe: roasted greengages with star anise and orange, served with vanilla mascarpone and pistachios. If you don’t have greengages, plums will work perfectly too. Listener Question – Fermentation Mark from Musselburgh asked if I’d ever tried fermentation as a storage method. I’ve dabbled – ciders and wines worked well, sauerkraut less so! But fermentation is one of the oldest ways to preserve food and it’s making a comeback. Sauerkraut, kimchi, and fermented pickles not only extend the life of our harvests but are also great for gut health. With food prices rising, it’s a skill I’m keen to revisit and explore more seriously. Final Thoughts From pruning trees to testing soil and learning old preservation skills, it’s been a week of both science and tradition in the garden. If you’ve got your own fermentation stories, or if you’ve tried a soil test, I’d love to hear from you.