August – Harvest, Sow, Plant and Jobs on the Plot

August is great for harvesting ripe fruit and vegetables, sowing green manures and summer pruning apples and pears. Here are just a few suggestions to help you enjoy your allotment plot:

Harvest:
 Aubergines when fruits turn dark and glossy
 Beetroot lift the roots gently by hand
 Broccoli as the heads grow
 Carrots pull from the ground
 Chillies once the peppers turn from green to red (for most varieties)
 Cucumbers when crunchy and 10cm long
 French Beans pick the pods while still young
 Herbs pick little and often to ensure regrowth
 Onions, Shallots and Garlic once the leaves turn yellow and wilt
 Peas once tender and swelled inside
 Potatoes second early varieties
 Runner beans before they become too long and tough
 Tomatoes once they turn red
 Turnips pull the roots
 Blackberries once the yields are a dark black colour and feel soft
 Blueberries when deep blue
 Pears but taste a few for readiness
 Raspberries when deep red and soft texture

Sow:
 Broad beans certain varieties can be sown under cloches
 Dwarf beans under cover
 Lettuce winter varieties in modules under cover
 Spinach ‘perpetual’ variety
 Spring cabbage sow into seed beds
 Spring onions winter hardy types
 Green manures to cover empty ground, adding back nutrients, deterring weeds

Plant:
 Broccoli plant out when 15cm high
 Cauliflower winter and autumn varieties
 Kale transplant for spring harvest
 Cabbages winter varieties

Jobs:
 Summer prune apple and pear trees which help keep their form and remain healthy without congested growth.
 Grow brassicas under insect proof netting and inspect plants regularly for signs of pests
 Damp down greenhouses to raise humidity levels, open vents and doors for ventilation, clean up fallen foliage to reduce spread of diseases