August

Seasonal Growing Advice for August
Harvest regularly. Beans and courgettes can quickly turn too big or stringy if you leave them for even a day too long. Try not to leave even the tiniest potatoes in the soil when you are harvesting – they are delicious and quick to cook. If you overlook them they can re-emerge next year as ‘volunteers’ and may carry disease, as anyone familiar with the tragic history of Ireland can tell you.
Keep on weeding and watering. Spread well–rotted mulches after rain to keep moisture in the soil.
Pinch out the tops of climbing beans to encourage growth lower down.
Pinch out and feed tomatoes.
Give extra support to peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers as the fruits get heavier.
Plant out new strawberry plants.
Keep earthing up potatoes, to stop them from turning green in the light.
Dry out garlic, shallots and onions.
Prune currants, gooseberries and summer-fruiting raspberries.
Prop up heavily-laden fruit trees so the branches don’t break.
Sow Italian vegetables, such as radicchio and cima di rapa, and orientals, such as mustards, pak choi and mizuna. It is also possible to still sow beetroots and carrots – some people say they are sweeter when sown in August.

Seasonal growing advice for August
Sad to say tomato blight arrived early at Whetstone Stray this year  – if your plants are affected please burn them or bag them up and remove from the site. Don’t compost them.
Now is the time to sit back, look around your plot and make a note of what has been a great success and what you would like to do differently next year.
Harvest regularly. Beans and courgettes can quickly turn too big or stringy if you leave them for even a day too long. 
Try not to leave even the tiniest potatoes in the soil when you are harvesting – they are delicious and quick to cook. If you overlook them they can re-emerge next year as ‘volunteers’ and may carry disease.
Keep on weeding and watering. Spread well–rotted mulches after rain to keep moisture in the soil.
Pinch out the tops of climbing beans to encourage growth lower down.
Pinch out and feed tomatoes.
Give extra support to peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers as the fruits get heavier.
Plant out new strawberry plants.
Keep earthing up potatoes, to stop them from turning green in the light.
Dry out garlic, shallots and onions.
Prune currants, gooseberries and summer-fruiting raspberries.
Prop up heavily-laden fruit trees so branches don’t break.
Sow Italian vegetables, such as radicchio and cima di rapa, and orientals, such as mustards, pak choi and mizuna. It is also possible to still sow beetroots and carrots – some say they are sweeter when sown in August.