Gardening: Botanics staff reap a rich harvest

SEPTEMBER has undeniably bought the change of season with it. The mornings are cooler, leaves are starting to fall and flocks of geese can be heard honking overhead.

The Royal Botanic Garden’s vegetable garden is at its most bountiful and staff are harvesting, storing and preserving their hard-earned crops.

They have pulled up a few parsnips and are constantly picking courgettes, French beans and runner beans. The leafy crops such as rainbow chard, lettuce and sorrel are doing well too. Sadly, the same can’t be said of the tomatoes. The pollinating insects were restricted by all the rain and don’t appear to have recovered, the fruits that have set are slow to turn red and are just not in a sunny enough position this year.