VEGETABLE CARE IN AUGUST 2009

GREEN MANURES
From August onwards you may well have unused ground in your veg plot or allotment. A great idea is to plant those areas with "green manures". At this time of year rye grasses or clover are ideal green manures. They can be dug into the soil in mid Spring next year before they flower. Green manures improve the food content of a soil and help to create a good soil structure. They also suppress weeds.

COURGETTES
Courgettes grow so quickly in August but don't let them get too big. Harvest when small and tasty. If allowed to get too big they loose their distinctive taste so harvest them when they are about 25cm (10in) long even if you don't need to use them. More will then grow in their place.

BEETROOT
Beetroot should be ready for harvest in August - baby beetroot are the tastiest. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

BROCCOLI
Harvest them as they grow large enough. Water in August if the weather becomes dry. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions. BRUSSELS SPROUTS 
No special care required in August. Just do your best to keep them watered if the weather decides to get hot!
Click here for more information on Brussels Sprouts.

CARROTS
Continue to thin out any remaining seedlings, keep the weeds down and enjoy harvesting your carrots!
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

CHICORY / RADICCHIO
Make final sowings of chicory seeds outside at the beginning of August. Harvest chicory sown in previous months. 
Click here for instructions and advice on how to grow this versatile vegetable.

FRENCH BEANS
French beans sown earlier in the year should be ready for harvesting.
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

LETTUCE
Harvest and enjoy! Maybe make notes on which varieties did best so that you can choose them again next year.
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

ONIONS
From mid-August onwards stop feeding your onions. Some onions, especially the onion sets, should be ready for harvest mid-August onwards. Onions are ready when the neck foliage starts to turn brown and the foliage falls over. It's not a good idea to bend over the foliage yourself because this can cause disease; allow the foliage to bend over of its own accord.
Japanese onions should be sown in late August, so choose the seeds now and prepare the ground for them. As far as Spring Onions are concerned, it's just harvest, harvest and harvest!
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

PEAS
Peas sown earlier in the year will be ready for harvesting.
Click here for more details of how and why.

POTATOES - NEW AND MAINCROP
Continue to remove any flowers in order to concentrate the growth in the potato tubers. Spray mainrop potatoes with a second dose of Bordeaux mixture mid month to help prevent attacks of blight.
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

RADISHES
Now is the time to sow winter radish. At the same time you should be harvesting radish sown earlier in the year.
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

RUNNER BEANS
From mid-August runner beans should be ready for harvesting. In the meantime keep them free from weeds and water if a dry spell threatens. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

SPINACH
Continue to harvest spinach during August. If you have any mulch to spare then use it around the spinach plants. Water them well to keep the rots moist and cool. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions on how and when to harvest spinach.

SWEET CORN
Mid August onwards is the time for harvesting sweet corn. Each sweetcorn plant will only produce fully formed sweetcorn cobs if it has one or at most two per plant. If your sweetcorn has three or more cobs, remove the excess ones and eat them as baby sweetcorn, delicious in salads. See our recipe section for how to barbecue sweetcorn picked straight from the plant. It's simple but one of the best summer treats. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

TOMATOES
From mid August onwards stop feeding your tomatoes with a potassium rich fertiliser and feed them with a nitrogen rich fertiliser. Continue to tie tomato plants to their stakes as they grow. Water them if conditions become dry. If tomatoes go short of water this will cause Blossom End Rot. Remove any side shoots as they appear (not bush varieties). 'Stop' non-bush varieties and thin tomato plants to 5 to 7 trusses. Clear up any yellow foliage and cut off any foliage which is touching the ground to avoid disease. Be quite ruthless in doing this because tomatoes will produce good fruit even if they have little foliage at this time of year.
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

FRUIT AND HERB CARE IN AUGUST 2009

RASPBERRIES
August is still harvest month for summer fruiting raspberries. Towards the end of August though, summer fruiting raspberries will stop producing fruit. Cut down to just above ground level those canes which have produced fruit this year. Tie in the other canes to supports, these will produce your raspberries next year.
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

STRAWBERRIES
August is the time to pot up any strawberry runners. Simply cut the runners from the main plant and either dig up and plant the new rooted strawberry plants into their new positions or put them in pots for planting later on. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

PLUMS
From mid August on, plums should be ripe enough to harvest. Keep an eye on the branches for overloading with fruit. If this looks like damaging the branches, either thin out the fruit more or provide supports for the branches. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

GOOSEBERRIES
Most gooseberries should be harvested by now, you may find a few more if you search hard! 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

BLACKBERRIES
August is blackberry month - harvest and enjoy them. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.

MINT, PARSLEY, SAGE, DILL, CHIVES, ROSEMARY, BAY, MARJORAM/OREGANO, BASIL, THYME and TARRAGON
Harvest these herbs which are at their very best now. 
Click here for easy to follow instructions.
 

GARDEN PLANT CARE IN AUGUST 2009

 

This month the spotlight is on
HELLEBORES
You may have seen hellebores in gardens earlier this year. They are great plants and provide colour and texture when little else is around in the freezing cold. Well now is the time to buy small plants from your garden centre. If you want to grow hellebores from seed, they should be sown from July to mid-August. One problem with hellebore seed is that it must be fresh - see the link below for a nursery that does mail order hellebore seed which is always fresh.

Having bought one hellebore you will find that many of them self-seed very easily providing more plants for you and other gardeners. They require no special attention other than division every four or five years - they are a sure fire plant for the not so green-fingered gardener.

Another great advantage of hellebores is that they do very well in semi-shade and hate too much water - this makes them ideal for growing under a tree or shrub where other plants may well fail. 
Click here for lots more information on hellebores.

GARDENACTION ADDRESS:
1 Gaydon Hill Farm Cottage, Gaydon, Warwick CV35 0HQ

This Month's Recipe

BBARBECUED SWEETCORN

One of summer's greatest treats is sweet corn picked from the garden or allotment and then barbecued. It's simple. Pick the cob from the plant, don't remove any leaves, just plunge it into water and leave it to soak for 30 minutes. Then place it on the barbecue and cook for 25 minutes. Turn the cobs every five minutes or so to ensure the sweetcorn is evenly cooked. The leaves will turn black, but don't worry, the sweetcorn inside will be fine. Remove from the barbecue, peel off the leaves and enjoy the most succulent sweetcorn you have ever tasted.

This recipe is explained in more detail on our recipe pages with step by step pictures. 
Click here for this tasty barbecue recipe.