As we hit the height of Summer and the soil is at its driest, do keep everything regularly (not sporadically) watered, using water from rain butts whereever you can. Many gardeners use “grey” water for watering, ie from baths and doing the washing up, although our jury is out on the advisability of that when you’re going to eat what you water…
Here’s the usual run down on sowing, planting out, maintenance and harvesting for August:
Sowing:
Late Summer is still time for sowing the following, especially if recent harvests have left you with space / spare pots:
Beetroot
Cabbages for next Spring
French beans
Kohl rabi
New potatoes for the Autumn
Radish
Spinach
Spring onions
Swiss chard
Turnip
Winter salad
You can no longer sow carrots now until the beginning of next year.
Alternatively, late Summer patches of spare earth benefit from having “green manures” planted into them such as mustard or rye grass. They return nutrients to the soil and can be dug into the soil once they’ve grown.
Planting out:
If you didn’t get round to planting out your seedlings for leeks or any of the brassicas (Broccoli, Winter Cabbages, Cauliflower and Kale) you are growing for the Winter, do transfer them into their final positions.
Maintenance:
Keep your containers / beds evenly watered (preferably using collected rainwater), avoiding letting everything dry out for days and then flooding (this will yield cracked / split produce). Also avoid watering when the sun is hot, as a lot of water will be lost to evaporation and produce can get scorched.
Reguarly pick tomatoes, squashes and beans to encourage lots of growth, and as in July pinch out side shoots early and pinch out the tops of bean plants when they get to the top of their support structure. This focuses the plant on producing fruit.
Harvest:
If you’ve been growing potatoes, move the ready ones to cool dark storage.
It’s also time for harvesting:
the last of your Aubergines
Broad beans
more French beans and Runner beans
Beetroot
Calabrese Broccoli
Summer Cabbages
Carrots
Summer Cauliflowers
Cucumbers
Peas
Peppers
Potatoes
Radishes
Spinach
Squashes
Sweetcorn
Swiss chard
Tomatoes
Turnips
And of course keep on stealing (and eating, of course!) leaves from your lettuces to encourage regrowth.
BEWARE when you pull up carrots if you’re not pulling them all up in one go – the smell of broken carrot greenery attracts carrot fly which could ruin the rest of your crop.
Your turn:
As always, we’d love to hear how you’re getting on with your growing, especially if you’re a newbie. And if you’re an old hand, do let us know if we’ve missed any top tips for this time of year.
Categories: gardening
