The allotment in August

Like July, this month is likely to be hot and dry so it is very important to keep watering on the allotment in August. If you’re off on your holidays it’s well worth having a reciprocal watering arrangement with a neighbour so that you have living vegetables to come back to. If they can do some weeding and harvesting all the better. Many crops will go to seed if picking stops and others will go past their best if not harvested young. It’s better to share than to see our efforts go to waste.

It’s a good idea to start checking on your store of potatoes and onions to make sure there is no disease and that any damaged ones haven’t started to rot. Discard any that don’t look good so that others don’t get affected.

Another job for August is turning the compost heap. The continuing warmth well help the composting process.

At this time of year we often find that we have too much wet, green waste and not enough brown, dry stuff, this will produce a sludgy compost. I use a few plastic ‘dalek’ type compost bins. To turn the mix I remove the bin and put the compost into another one. If the compost is too wet I add straw as I go. I’m fortunate to get this free in the form of used bedding from a local stable. If straw isn’t available cardboard, shredded paper, dead leaves and small twigs can be added. A mix of half green and half brown by volume is about right.

It’s also worth keeping some of your green waste in the sun to dry. Turn it regularly so that it dries all the way through, in effect you are making hay so you have more brown waste.

Harvest from the allotment in August

We are reaching the peak of the harvesting season and it would probably be easier to make a list of things that you can’t harvest than those you can!

In the legume bed French beans, runner beans, peas and sweetcorn will be ready. Broad beans from late sowings may also be available. Regularly picking these crops before they grow too big gives you the tenderest, tastiest produce and encourages more to come. Once the seeds begin to mature the plants produce less new ones.

Chard and spinach, cauliflower, calabrese, summer cabbage and kale will be available from the brassica and leafy crop bed. Keep an eye on cauliflower and calabrese and try to cut them at their best, they are likely to ‘blow’ soon after reaching maturity.

Second early potatoes will be ready to be harvested from the allotment from early August with maincrops following on towards the end of the month and into September.

In the root crop bed beetroot, carrots and turnips will be available as will main crop onions.

Salad leaves, various lettuce, radish and spring onions will be available for our salads. Tomatoes and cucumber will be ready too, whether grown in the open ground or the greenhouse.

Courgettes and summer squash like patty pan sunburst are likely to be prolific. Pick them regularly and keep them well watered and fed for a continuing supply.

The greenhouse in August

As in July watering continues to be essential in the greenhouse in August. Don’t allow the soil or compost to dry out completely but don’t overwater. Continue to use a liquid feed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Remember to open your greenhouse in the morning. This stops temperatures getting too high, permits ventilation and allows pollinators in. In exceptionally hot weather you may need to consider creating some shade. I usually close the greenhouse before sunset to retain some warmth but if daytime temperatures are high and night time temperatures are predicted to remain above 10C it can be left open. The greenhouse will then be a little less likely to overheat the following day.

Stake your plants as they grow. Cordon tomatoes will need their side shoots cut out regularly. They should also have their tops cut off to direct the plant’s energy away from growing foliage and into developing and ripening their fruit. Cut them off as they reach the top of the greenhouse or when a maximum of six trusses of fruit have started to develop. It’s unlikely that more than this will be able to mature fully and ripen. For outside tomatoes four trusses is likely to be the most the plant can support.

Sow in the allotment in August

In recent years we have been fortunate enough to have warm weather continuing well into September, October and even beyond. With that in mind I continue to sow late carrots and beetroots into early August. With the soil warm they should germinate in a few days and growth should be quite fast.

Radish and spring onions can still be sown in the allotment in August as can many varieties of lettuce. Look out for winter varieties, these can be sown under cover for crops throughout the winter and into spring.

Looking forward to next year we can sow spring cabbage for early crops from April next year.