GARDENS
JULY
ANNA TAYLOR, OWNER OF ANNA’S FLOWER FARM IN AUDLEY END, SHARES WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE GARDEN THIS MONTH GARDEN GROW? How does your
of growing to the moon. I don’t believe in coincidence – our gardens have never looked better, the plants healthier or more abundant. From my notes, we’ve also spent fewer hours labouring. I have wondered if this is down to the more relaxed approach to gardening this calendar permits, which means the tasks that might benefit most from my
uly is a lovely pause in the year. As if I needed an excuse to spend the month in a hammock, recently it’s been too hot to garden after 8am or before 8pm. Flower cutting
is done at dawn, and a deep watering is performed once a week at dusk, along with tying in growth and taking a turn around the plots every week or so with the hoe. For these few weeks, we
focus and attention are easily decided. cycle, like the tides and seasons, has a pendulum quality. A whoosh of energy one way and then slowing to a crest; a
EVERY SENSE CAN FEAST ON THEGARDEN IN JULY
The monthly moon
can do as little as this, in confidence that it is enough. And so we should, because with August storms and September harvests ahead, we ought to have the midsummer version of hibernation (lullination?). Lie back, enjoy our efforts and
moment of suspension before dropping back and returning. The few weeks after midsummer – much like January after midwinter – feel like that moment of suspension. It is one of the few months I won’t sow seeds – very few germinate in this weather. Instead, I start collecting those that go over on plants that flowered in spring and deadhead others, encouraging more to come. The abundance of the garden can be overwhelming, so I try to take in details. Jasmine, honeysuckle and tobacco plants languish in the heat, releasing heady scents in the evening and attracting pollinators. Tendrils of sweet peas curling around the hazel pole, a poppy case – with the tiniest slither of colour – bursting into bloom within moments. Tomatoes swell with a smell redolent of the midday sun, and we pull pods of peas, eating greedily straight from the plant. Every sense can feast on the garden in July and be quite simply lost in this almost dreamlike indulgence. School’s out for summer, and so am I. If the past year has taught me anything, it’s to take it all in and appreciate everything around us. Next month, I’ll start sowing seeds for flowers next year. July: the disco nap of the year’s afternoon. We’ll be back to it before we know.
gather our collective breath, before we continue our work to maintain and bring in the harvests. This year, we have been following the biodynamic calendar – sowing seeds and transplanting on auspicious days, and doing jobs like clearing on others. I am beginning to get a sense of the rhythm
ABOVE Anna Taylor, pictured with her dog, Pickle, is enjoying the natural pause in the middle of the year. Photo by Charlotte Griffiths
90 JULY 2021 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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