Apple scab, biostimulants and a new garden at the Newt in Somerset

It’s been an odd week weatherwise as we’ve plenty of mizzle, that combination of drizzle and mist that leaves everything damp. Round here I’ve heard some of the older locals call it ‘letty’ because it makes working outside unpleasant which is the perfect description.  It’s not great for seed harvesting either, and now I wish I had harvested the last of the French beans last week when the pods were dry.  

This week I have collected the last of the apples. Harvest-wise, it’s been a great year, much better than I had anticipated back in summer. But some of the trees have had a lot of apple scab so I have dug  bit deeper into the biology of this fungal disease and investigated the emerging world of biostimulants.  I finish with my visit to a new garden at the Newt in Somerset.

Today’s news is all about the results of the US election.  I am not going to comment on that, but just say that from a climate change point of view, how different the world would be today if Al Gore had been elected t…