Streamside News…Summer 2025

We hope that you find our quarterly newsletters useful, and are pleased to forward your summer ’25 newsletter…

STREAMSIDE OFFERS VALUE FOR MONEY!

Check out our latest price comparison below, your annual membership cost of £2.00 is a good investment!

	British Garden Centre	Homebase/The Range	Streamside  Horticultural Association	Minimum Saving
Liquid Tomato Feed 1 litre	£5.00 (Westland)	£5.99 (Westland)	£3.10 (Doff)	£1.90
Bonemeal 3kg	£5.99 (1.5 kg) Price per kg £3.99	£8.99 (4kg) Price per kg (£2.24)	£3.20 (3kg) Price per kg £1.07	£1.17 per kg
Rattan Hanging Basket (14 inches)	£9.99	£9.99	£4.30	£5.69
4 Foot Canes (x10)	£4.99	£4.49	£2.10	£2.39
Black Sunflower Seeds	£11.99 (2.8 kg) Price per kg £4.28	£2.99 (1.25kg) Price per kg £2.39	£2.00 (1kg)	39p per kg

 

Streamside Days Out

Tickets still available for BBC Gardeners World Autumn Fair

Members recently enjoyed a fantastic day out to Myddelton House Enfield & Kathy Brown’s private garden Stevington Beds. And we’re now looking forward to our next trip to Sissinghurst (sold out and with a waiting list). But if you fancy an outing to a new venue for Streamside then we still have tickets available for BBC Gardeners World Autumn Fair, details as below….

Friday 29 August 2025 

BBC Gardeners World Autumn Fair at Audley End House and Garden, Saffron Walden, Essex.

Plants to buy + Great shopping + Showcase Gardens + Planting inspiration in the Beautiful Borders + Plant expert tours + BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage + Good Food Market and including Access to Audley End House and Gardens. 

Please note There may be a reduced price for English heritage members please contact Chris for further details. chris.plastow@hotmail.co.uk, 07887 407507

Departing 8.30am, £40 

PRICE INCLUDES DRIVERS TIP. 

Bookings to be made in person at the Streamside Store during normal trading hours – 9.45 - 12.15 on Sundays, and tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis.

Thrifty Corner…

Home-made weedkiller

The most effective home-made weedkiller is a mixture of four cups of vinegar to half a cup of salt and a couple of teaspoons of washing-up liquid. When the salt is fully dissolved, just spray or wipe it on to broad-leaved weeds such as docks and ground elder. Unfortunately, it is lethal to all other plants around it as well. It works best in sunny conditions. Coca-Cola is surprisingly good for killing off weeds in pavement cracks. It is a bit sticky, but very effective if used on a sunny day.

Seasonal Recipies…

Melanzane Pasta Bake – serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 large or 3 small aubergines, sliced into 5mm/¼in rounds

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 6–7 sheets dried lasagne

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the béchamel sauce

• 50g/1¾oz butter, plus extra for greasing

• 50g/1¾oz plain flour

• 568ml/1 pint milk, warmed

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 100g/3½oz Parmesan (or a similar vegetarian alternative), grated

For the tomato and basil sauce

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

• 500ml/18fl oz passata

• 1 bunch basil, chopped

• 2 tsp caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Grease a 2.5 litre/4½ pint ovenproof dish with butter and line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Arrange the aubergine slices in a single layer on the prepared trays. Drizzle over the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20–25 minutes turning the slices over halfway through the cooking time. Set aside.

3. Lay the pasta sheets in a dish and cover with hot water for 10 minutes to soften.

4. To make the béchamel sauce, heat the butter in a saucepan. Once melted, sprinkle in the flour and whisk for a few minutes over a high heat to form a roux. Pour the warmed milk into the roux and whisk. Bring to the boil, whisking for a few minutes until smooth. Add the mustard and two-thirds of the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Set aside.

5. To make the tomato sauce, put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

6. To assemble, spoon a third of the tomato sauce in the base of the prepared dish, top with a third of the béchamel. Arrange a third of the aubergines on top and 3–3½ sheets of lasagne (you may need to break the lasagne into pieces to make it fit in an even layer). Repeat so you have three layers of sauce and two layers of pasta, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

7. Leave to stand for 1 hour before cooking, or overnight.

8. Bake for 35–45 minutes until golden-brown and bubbling. Stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot with garlic bread.

Beetroot Chocolate Cake – serves 8 – 10

Ingredients

• 200g/7oz butter, plus extra for greasing

• 250g/9oz cooked and peeled beetroot

• 200g/7oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

• 4 tbsp hot espresso coffee

• 135g/5oz plain flour

• 1 heaped tsp baking powder

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

• 5 free-range eggs, separated

• 190g/6¾oz golden caster sugar

• crème fraîche or double cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in cake tin with a little butter and line the bottom of the tin with a disc of baking parchment.

2. Blend the beetroot in a food processor to a rough purée.

3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water), then pour in the hot coffee.

4. Stir in the butter in small pieces and leave to soften. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

5. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa together in a bowl and set aside.

6. Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks in a bowl until frothy. Stir the egg yolks into the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the beetroot.

7. In a separate clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until still peaks form when the whisk is removed. Fold in the sugar.

8. Fold the sugar and egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the sifted flour and cocoa mixture.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

10. Allow to cool in the tin, then serve with crème fraîche or double cream.

Some Tasks to do in your Garden This Season…

The following lists are just some of the seasonal tasks that you may like to consider to ensure that your garden or allotment continues to look good, and produce a good level of crops :-

June

Fruit and Veg

Plant out squashes and pumpkins and French beans that were started indoors.

Water onions and shallots in dry spells.

Prine plums from mid-June to early July.

Harvest turnips, radish and salad crops as needed.

Thin clusters of apples after June drop, removing the smallest and any damaged fruits,

Sow a selection of winter veg, such as kale, chicory and winter cabbage.

Continue sowing courgettes, marrows and summer squashes.

Keep tying in tomatoes and feed them weekly.

Earth up soil around potato stems to get a bigger crop.

Thin gooseberries and cook the pickings.

Harvest rhubarb and strawberries.

Transplant seedlings of brassicas.

Keep all fruit trees and bushes well watered in dry spells.

Harvest lettuce, rocket, radishes, early potatoes and the final asparagus spears.

Tie in new raspberry canes onto support wires using twine.

Flowers

Make more shrubs by taking softwood cuttings of young shoots that haven’t yet flowered.

Remove suckers from roses by pulling then off (wear gloves to make this easier).

Tie in clematis and honeysuckle, as well as climbing and rambling roses.

Dig up tulip bulbs to dry out and store for replanting in the autumn,

Sow biennials and herbaceous perennials for flowers next year.

Stake large blooms to stop them flopping.

Make a final sowing of hardy annuals to fill gaps with late colour.

Water containers regularly.

Trim off old flowers of rhododendrons to tidy up the shrub and ensure it doesn’t waste energy making seeds.

Store spring bulbs in a cool, dark place once their foliage has died.

Sow fast-growing annuals for an autumnal display.

Cut back any perennials that have already flowered.

Sow winter bedding in trays on the windowsill or in the greenhouse.

Take cuttings of rock garden plants such as pinks and aubrieta.

Protect the new vulnerable shoots of hostas from slugs and snails.

Keep newly planted trees watered in dry spells while they get established.

Tie in stems of sweet peas as they develop loosely to supports with string.

Pot up dahlia cuttings taken in spring.

Miscellaneous

Ensure your lawn is well watered especially if it’s new.

Keep water levels in small container ponds topped up as moisture can evaporate quickly in hot spells.

July

Fruit and Veg

Keep picking greenhouse crops such as peppers and cucumbers, checking plants every day.

Thin out crowded grapes to improve the quality of your grapes.

Harvest and store garlic when the leaves turn yellow.

Sow seeds of kohl rabi, radishes and other oriental greens.

Trim back any excess runners on strawberry plants grown in pots.

Feed and mulch rhubarb to give it a boost now that harvesting is over.

Pick beans frequently to keep them cropping.

Sow main-crop carrots, spring cabbages, oriental leaves, endives and winter radishes.

Pinch out the shoots’ tips of fig trees.

Clip side shoots on formal bay plants to maintain their shape.

Cut back tomato plants when they have made three to five fruit trusses.

Fold the leaves over cauliflower curds to stop them scorching.

Tie in the new canes of cultivated blackberries.

Pick blueberries once they have developed their full colour Pot up dahlia cuttings taken in spring.

Harvest hearting lettuces when the centre feels firm.

Flowers

Keep picking sweet peas to keep the flowers coming.

Reduce rose disease by picking faded leaves off particularly if they have blackspot.

Trim back alpines that look untidy.

Sow biennial wallflowers outside now into a nursery bed or spare patch of sunny ground for flowers next year.

Save seeds from alpines and hardy cyclamen to sow later.

Plant autumn crocus bulbs as soon as they become available.

Cut back lupins and delphiniums after flowering.

Keep deadheading bedding plants and remove any tatty or diseased leaves.

Pinch out new shoots on fuchsias to make them bushier.

Add supports to late summer border plants so they don’t flop.

Mow wildflower meadows after the ripe seeds have been shed.

Collect and sow seed from early summer flowers such as poppies, foxgloves and lupins.

Take cuttings of fuchsias, helichrysum, osteospermums and other tender bedding plants.

Feed plants in hanging baskets and patio pots.

Mulch perennials with compost to keep soil damp.

Cut back the frothy flowers of Alchemilla once that have started to fade.

Remove the side buds from tuberous begonia flower heads.

Miscellaneous

Keep compost bins topped up now they’re at their hottest and most efficient.

Use a long blade or weeding tool to lever out deep-rooted weeds such as plantains and dandelion.

August

Fruit and veg

Sow spinach early in the month to prevent it bolting.

Press sweetcorn kernels with your fingernail to check for milky sap – this means the crop is ready to harvest

Thin out crowded rows of salad leaf and other seedlings.

Lift onions and shallots, and dry them off before storing.

Regularly pick biennial herbs such as parsley.

Pull up annual herbs that have run to seed.

Summer prune peaches and nectarines after they have fruited.

Sow parsley for a leafy winter supply.

Sow Japanese onions now for an early crop next year.

If potato foliage is dying back or showing signs of blight then cut down at the base now.

Prune plums and damsons and cut out damaged branches.

Start harvesting autumn cabbages and baby leeks.

Sow oriental and winter salad leaves.

Water trees that are growing against walls.

Continue pruning trained fruit trees.

Water potatoes well in dry spells to prevent tubers splitting.

Check aubergine fruits regularly so you can pick them the moment they are ripe.

Pick over sugar snap peas and mangetouts every few days, to catch pods while still young, tender and sweet.

Cover carrots with fleece to keep carrot flies away.

Thin out over crowded pear fruits to ensure a good crop.

Remove old and yellow tomato leaves to ripen fruit and assist air circulation.

After fruiting cut out old canes of summer fruiting raspberries

Flowers

Keep newly planted shrubs and trees well-watered.

Thin out water lilies and other floating plants and remove weeds to prevent algae building up in ponds.

Prune back stems on rambling roses.

Lightly trim back new growth on conifers to shape them up.

Buy some ferns now and split them straight away to grow on so you have several to plant out later this autumn.

Harvest flowers for drying such as paper daisies.

Pot up self-sown seedlings to grow on for next year.

Divide bearded irises to make new plants.

Inspect chrysanthemums for signs of rust infection.

Propagate clematis by layering low-shoots.

Collect ripening seeds from perennials.

Keep camellias well watered in dry spells to help buds form.

Make more verbena bonariensis, lavender and penstemon with semi-ripe cuttings.

Give evergreen hedges such as holly, laurel and yew their final trim of the season.

Plant the seedlings of biennials sown in June.

Water cyclamen to start the corms into growth.

Pick bulbils off lily stems and pot up to get new plants.

Trim leafy shoots from pyracantha to reveal the ripening berries.

Take cuttings from hybrid tea, floribunda and shrub roses.

Prune wisteria by cutting off the whippy shoots.

Miscellaneous

Leave watering can and containers outside to collect rainwater for acid loving plants. Keep an eye on weeds and remove by hand or apply appropriate weed killer.