Seasonal Tips
Make a note of your triumphs and failures so you can plan to do even better next season.
Clear away dead plant material and compost it – except diseased plants and perennial weeds which you should burn or take off the site.
Harvest summer vegetables and lift potatoes and beetroots before the first frost.
Cut pumpkins and winter squashes – cure them so they will keep over winter by leaving them in the sun to harden their skins.
Cover autumn salads and Oriental leaves with cloches or fleece to protect from frost.
Sow broad beans seeds outside or start them in pots.
Plant garlic, shallots and onions and check them regularly as birds love to pull them out.
Plant rhubarb and bare-root fruit bushes, such as gooseberries and currants.
Plant grapevines and strawberries.
Take down and store supports for beans, peas and tomatoes.
Top Tasks for September
Harvest remaining Summer vegetables and the first of your Autumn crops
Pick late plums, mid-season apples and pears, and autumn- fruiting raspberries
Sow the last of your Oriental and salad leaves of the year
Plant spring cabbages and Japanese onion sets to overwinter for next year
Clear away dead foliage
Add everything you can to your compost heap as long as it’s not diseased or has seeds
Check apples, pears and plums for brown rot and discard infected fruit
Plant strawberries, spring cabbages, onion sets.
From Allotment Month by Month by Alan Buckingham. DK
Jacquie’s tips for September
Following the recent rains, be extra vigilant looking out for tomato blight and remove any infected crops from the site immediately.
Many crops are very late due to the poor summer, but we may still have two months of growing yet. It’s not too late to try a last sowing of chard, spinach, and hardy oriental greens, and start thinking where to put the onions and broad beans you will sow next month.
Choose a dry day for lifting main crop potatoes; and store them out of sunlight or warmth in paper or hesian bags.