August is a busy month for gardeners – the majority of the time in my garden has been spent watering! In most areas of the UK we’ve actually had a fair bit of sunshine this summer, which is marvellous for sunbathing but hard work for gardeners!

On the plus side, tomato blight seems to be thankfully absent this year – the warm dry weather is to thank for that. However we have had some short, intense periods of rain which have been fantastic for the plants, and also for the weeds!

If you are finding you are running out of space to compost the spoils of your weeding escapades, it may be time to invest in a compost bin! If you already have a bin, a compost rotation system involving two or more compost bins can be a very valuable addition to a well functioning and efficient garden. This system works by filling up one bin whilst the other gets busy composting. You can then empty one whilst the other is composting – fantastic!

Those of you who have been growing your own potatoes, broad beans and other veg will find that you have a constant supply of peelings and shells finding their way to the compost from the kitchen – we’ve found some fantastic compost caddies which can store uncooked kitchen food waste – especially useful when winter approaches and we all feel less inclined to visit the garden!