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