Battling the July Dust: Our Watering War Tactics
I stood at the gate on Monday morning looking at soil that had gone the colour and texture of a digestive biscuit, and I thought to myself: right, Tudor family, this is now officially a military operation. So that's exactly what it's become — a full watering war, with Sam, Iris and me each playing our part, and about as much strategy as we can muster between a technician, a thirty-two-year-old who thinks lifting is cardio, and a seventeen-year-old who has strong opinions about everything. The Enemy: Cracked Earth and Wilting Courgettes Let me set the scene. Six weeks with no rain doesn't sound like much until you actually watch it happen to your own soil. The top few inches go from lovely and crumbly to something you could genuinely use to sharpen a knife on. Walk across the plot and it sounds like you're crunching through a bag of crisps. The courgette leaves flop by mid-afternoon like they've had one too many at the pub, and even the marigolds, who normally cou...
