Grass doesn't need watering in the UK

Grass is a survivor. We had the longest rain-free heatwave I can remember in my life this summer. The grass became brown in patches and dry all over. It looked like it was a goner. But I didn't water, because I know grass is a survivor. And because water was scarce in the heatwave and I didn't want to waste it on grass when we had so little to go round. The rain started again in early August. And my lawn sprang back to life. It's now September and my lawn is almost entirely healthy green again.

After the rain

Before the rain

My beetroots and my chard also loved all this rain and the extra growing time. 

My cucurbits weren't so keen. Every time it rained, powdery mildew afflicted some of the leaves. It started with just a few spots.

These were often just on the back of the leaf, so unless you know to look from the mild discolouration on the front you didn't notice unless you turned it over.

Eventually it spreads to the whole leaf.

My initial policy was to remove all these leaves and destroy them (they can't go on the compost heap, as the powdery mildew would stay in the compost).

But more and more leaves were becoming afflicted. Every time it rained leaf after leaf would be affected, especially the older leaves. Getting rid of the leaves was becoming a nuisance and the plants were putting all their energy into regrowing the leaves and hardly any into making new courgettes. All except one, it turned out, which was hidden under the sage until my other half protested its messiness and chopped it back.

It's a bit big to be eaten in most courgette recipes, but will make a lovely soup.

So I've now got to the time of year when I'm not fighting it any more. I'm not chopping off any more leaves with mildew and am letting my courgette beds recover from the devastation I caused to the courgette beds with all my cutting, albeit with a dusting of powdery mildew over the top.

I fight this battle every year, each year knowing that there will come a point when I give up and let it go. Cucurbits are strange plants. They need a huge amount of water, but if they get it from rain, then they tend to succumb to powdery mildew. Only in environments carefully crafted by people, with water from a watering can instead of the sky, are they happy.