August is a month of transition, it is the midpoint between summer and autumn, the days get noticeably shorter and leaves will start to drop. This is a month of change in the allotment too where most of your work will be prep for winter and next years planting.
Harvesting
- Aubergine
- Curly kale
- Beetroot
- Cabbages
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Courgettes and marrows
- Cucumber
- French beans
- Globe Artichoke
- Kohl Rabi
- Onion
- Pepper
- Potato
- Radish
- Runner beans
- Salad leaves and lettuces
- Spinach
- Spring Onion
- Swede
- Sweetcorn
- Swiss chard
- Tomato
- Turnip
Sowing
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Chickory
- Endives
- Japanese onions
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- lettuces
- Spinach
- Spring cabbage
- Spring onions
- Sprouting Broccoli
- Swiss chard
- Turnips
- Winter radish
Planting
- Cauliflower
- Leeks
- Marrow
- Overwintering cabbages
- Pumpkin
- Squashes
General Jobs
- If you’re growing aubergines pinch out the growing tip once they have 5 or 6 fruits
- Cut back herbs to encourage a new flush of leaves that you can harvest before the frost
- Continue to feed tomato plants with a tomato fertiliser
- Lift and dry onions, shallots and garlic
- Keep birds and squirrels off your berries with netting
- Tidy up strawberry plants
Pests and Diseases
Aphids – spraying your brassicas with diluted washing up liquid will deter them from landing on your crops. You can buy insecticides if you prefer, including a fatty acid soap to spray on the plants.
Carrot fly – a particular problem between May and September when female flies lay their eggs the best defence to cover plants with horticultural fleece or place two-foot-high barriers around the plants.
Cabbage root fly– attacking the roots of brassicas, these flies can cause a lot of damage to your plants. Female flies lay the eggs on the surface of the soil next to the stem of the plant. Place a piece of carpet (or cardboard or fleece) around the base of the plant to create a collar, this will stop the flies from laying their eggs on the soil.