July was wet, wet, wet! Though there was very little need to water, the wet and cool weather has created a weed nightmare. The first 10 days or so of August look to be similar, with some hotter weather expected mid-August, and at the moment a warm, dry day is forecast for the WAHGA August 13th picnic.
August is a great month for harvesting fruit and veg and the garden should be bright with colour. This is also a good one for planning ahead and making sure the plot is productive through the autumn and winter months and that the garden will look good in winter and spring.
HARVESTING:
Leaves of all types, from lettuces to spinach, rocket, chard and kale. Keep sowing so you can continue harvesting.
Tomatoes, aubergines, chillies and peppers start ripening this month - pick as soon as they are ripe to ensure further cropping
Pick beans and peas regularly to enjoy them when tender. To store dried beans (particularly borlotti), leave the pods to dry out fully on the plant before harvesting.
Summer squash, courgettes and cucumbers will continue to produce through the month. Cut off any leaves with mildew.
Leave winter squash and pumpkins a few months more. It is worth pruning winter squash/pumpkins to leave just 2-3 fruits on each plant. This will help the fruits to swell and ripen before late autumn.
Sweetcorn will be ready soon, if we get some warmer weather! Wait for the tassels to turn dark brown/black before harvesting. Do make sure the plants are well covered, pigeons and crows love sweetcorn.
Summer sprouting broccoli might be ready and you may even start to see the first of your cabbages and cauliflowers towards the end of the month.
Potatoes, turnips, swede, beetroot and carrots are all harvestable in August. For main crop potatoes, wait until the plants have flowered and the leaves start turning yellow. For the others root, you should see the crown peeping above the soil surface which will give a good indication of its size before you harvest them.
Harvest Onions and shallots once the leaves start to turn yellow. If it’s wet just lift what you need for immediate use. Harvest for storage on a sunny day and leave them to dry out before storing them.
Apples, pears and plums will be ready to harvest through the month.
Raspberries and blackberries are in abundance, pick, eat, freeze, preserve!
Other crops will need a little longer – celeriac and parsnips will not be ready for a month or more, brussels sprouts nearer to Christmas, celery in September or at the end of August, and leeks probably need a few more weeks too.
SOWING AND PLANTING:
Lettuces & salad leaves
Turnips, swede, carrots
Kale, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower
Leeks, beetroot and peas
Chard, rocket
Kohlrabi
JOBS TO DO:
Weed, weed and weed your plot and garden to reduce competition for water and space to grow.
Cut back flowering herbs like mint, marjoram, oregano and chives, they will come with fresh, new growth.
Keep cutting sweet peas and dead head herbaceous flowers on a regular basis to keep them flowering through to autumn.
Add old plants/foliage to the compost pile. Once you have harvested the last of any crops, pull them up and add the foliage to the compost pile. Build an additional heap - you can never have enough compost bins!
Manage your empty spaces for autumn; add a good mulch of fresh compost or well rotted manure on any bare patches to enrich the soil to suppress weeds. Or sow a green manure.
Many of us have more fresh produce than we can eat, freeze or preserve, so do put it out on the sharing table, give to your local church, eco hub or food bank if accepted
Feed fruiting plants like tomatoes, courgettes, squashes and raspberries with a liquid feed to encourage flowers and fruits to form
Give pots and planters with annual flowering plants a liquid feed to encourage flowering through summer
Earth up or stake taller plants like broccoli, brussel sprouts and sweetcorn, as August often brings windy days.
Cut off or plant up strawberry runners
Prune stone fruit trees now such as apricot, plum, cherry, peach
Turn your compost heap if you can and remember to use your compost in the garden and allotment
Give your lawn a summer feed and sow seed on any bare patches.
WILDLIFE:
Hedgehogs, birds, squirrels and even insects will hopefully have found plenty of spots to shelter from rain. When drier weather returns remember to leave out shallow containers with water. Allow wild flowers to self-seed and leave stalks intact to act as natural bug hotels. Create areas of twigs, branches and vegetative debris for wildlife to shelter in.
PESTS AND DISEASES:
Keep slugs at bay. A quick dusk patrol, some traps and keeping the plot tidy will help. Watch out for slugs eating potatoes secretly – if this is a problem it is best to harvest potatoes and store them rather than leaving them in the ground.
Keep brassicas protected from cabbage white butterflies with an insect proof mesh; this will also keep the pigeons at bay.
Blight has already been identified on tomatoes on Churchfields allotments. If you see it remove affected leaves as soon as you see them on potatoes or tomatoes to try to prevent it from spreading. If potato plants are badly affected, cut down the foliage altogether. If tomatoes are infected they are inedible, and any infected potatoes won’t store well. If you spot signs of blight, it’s best to harvest what you have. Dispose of all the plant matter in your brown bin or take to the council dump.
Powdery mildew is likely to affect cucumbers, squashes and pumpkins. Remove badly affected leaves to prevent it from spreading.
Aphids can still be a problem now so check leaves for this.
Slugs and snails will be out in the rain and at dusk, so keep laying down beer traps, and using other preventative methods to keep your crops safe.
PLANNING:
Start looking at the bulb catalogues and plan purchases for planting in autumn
Autumn is the best time to plant shrubs and trees so start preparing beds now to fill any gaps.
Above all enjoy your plot / garden during these warm months!