Firstly, apologies for the post being a little late but I have a valid reason behind it. I have recently taken on another allotment plot and have been busy turning it around and making it useable for the winter and upcoming months.
August seems to be a great time for acquiring a new plot as the days are longer and hopefully drier meaning that there are more productive hours that can be spent clearing the plot. I will go into more detail about my new plot in a future post but for now, here are a few jobs that we can all be getting on with this month.
Jobs to do………in August
- Check sweetcorn kernels to see if they are ripe. Press a thumbnail into the kernels to see if a milky liquid oozes out.
- Pinch out runner bean tops to prevent having to over reach for the beans.
- Lift and store second early potatoes.
- Take cuttings for woody herbs such as rosemary, thyme marjoram and sage.
- Keep on top of pest control. A soft soap liquid solution works well.
- Thin seedlings to prevent overcrowding and water well if the soil is dry after thinning. The transplants may be situated elsewhere to get another crop.
- Keep the greenhouse well ventilated and damp down the floors to help the humidity.
- Harvest and dry a wide variety of fresh herbs to use later in the season.
- Lift and store early beetroot. They taste more tender when harvested before they reach the size of a tennis ball.
- Keep harvesting your vegetables to encourage production. In some cases, the more you pick the more you get!
- Continue to feed tomatoes and peppers but reduce the watering towards the end of the months to help the chillies to ripen.
- Completely remove and turn the contents of the compost bin. There will be plenty of green waste added this month so it pays to turn before it gets overfull.
- Make a new strawberry bed with the runners from the existing plants.
- Keep an eye on courgettes and pick them while they are still young. They seem to grow in the blink of an eye!
- Lift and dry onions, shallots and garlic for use in the coming months.
What to sow………Indoors and outdoors
- Autumn and Winter salads
- Radish
- Beetroot
- Early Carrots
- Chinese Cabbage
- Pak Choi
- Kale
- Kohl Rabi
- Hardy Lettuce
- Spring Onion
- Japanese Onion
- Spinach
- Spring Cabbage
- Turnips
- Winter radish
What to plant………in August
- Winter Brassicas
- Chives
- Kale
- Kohl rabi
- Lettuces
- Sprouting broccoli
Crops in season now
- Courgettes
- Peas
- Beans
- Carrots
- Turnips
- Potatoes
- Spring onions
- Lettuces
- Chard
- Radish
- Kale
- Rhubarb
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Cherries
- Shallots
- Courgettes
- Broad Beans
- Shallots
- Garlic
- Kohl Rabi
- Onions
Happy harvestin’
Debb
digginwivdebb 
A post full of fabulous information as always. do you have a post on harvesting and storing main crop potatoes? I have Kind Edwards and Cara growing but would like to harvest and store them properly, I value your advice.
Hi Lorna. Thanks for your comment. The advice I would give about storing potatoes is to lift the when ready and dry them for at least 24 hrs. I tend to just leave them on the ground if the weather is dry. This helps the skins to harden that will aid in storing. Sort out the best ones and use up the ones that look a little worse for wear or have been speared by the fork when harvesting. Store in a paper stack ( I tend to ask friends to save their potato sacks when they buy them in bulk) and check them on a regular basis. Store in a cool dark place and enjoy the fruits or your labour 🙂
Good luck with your “extension”.
Thanks for this one.
Thanks. Reckon I’ll need all the luck I can get 🙂
Good luck with the new plot – exciting times!
Thanks. When I get the chance I will post an update of my progress.