August is high summer and is full of abundance. It’s also like a new season, a second spring, the shortening of the days triggering germination of plants that like autumn’s damper conditions. It’s time to start sowing for harvests in autumn and winter.
The garden is full and looks lush thanks to the rain we have had. As I have mentioned before the ups and down, successes and failures all contribute to the huge learning curve that is gardening. Things change from one year to the next and it’s good to learn from those changes for the following year. For me this year things are looking as good as ever, lots of good growth lots of green leaf. but under closer inspection, that’s what I have, leaf, squashes for example have grown like wildfire but have borne hardly any fruit and some carrots have suffered due to mole activities. The greenhouse chillis and peppers have so far been prolific, I haven’t harvested fruits yet but they are looking great, not can be said the same of the Tomatoes, they’re quite far behind and I have only had one tomato so far. They’re there and looking fine but still green, like shiny apples.
Dahlias, Cosmos, Zinnias are however flying the flag and are at their best and having grown Zinnia for the first time this year I am totally in love with them. I keep a list of flowers and veg that I have enjoyed through the year to earmark them to grow again next year and this is definitely on the list. Dahlias for me have always been on the ‘not sure what the fuss is about’, I think I have finally realised. I acquired a bunch of them recently and they’re putting up a gorgeous display, part of this is attributed to the fact that I have left them in plastic pots (shock horror) and they’re on a metal rack and thus no slug attack. The ones I grew have been decimated as they’re in pots on the ground but this lot are beautiful, so my point is, if you can be slug free, then the results are gorgeous, you just have to get there without the pests.
Talking of slug damage, a very common question is how to combat slugs, a question I get asked a lot and one that with all this wet weather is pretty topical. There are a few ways to help:
– Ensure the ground is clean of decaying leaves, these are like slug snacks, so the more snacks you leave about the more slugs will love it. Remove dead leaves, any decaying leaves and any debris from the floor, keep it scrupulously tidy.
– Hand pick slugs off and move them to another area, you’ll find this most useful at night so arm yourself with a torch!
– No wooden sides. Wooden sides just give slugs and snails luxury accommodation, remove them and they’ll have less places to reside.
– Water in the morning. Slugs like to be active at night and damp surfaces only help them, so best to have dry compost at night
– Be chemical and fertiliser free. Nature will balance itself out in time.
– Keep your beds weed free, even gardeners using no-dig methods get weeds (less so, but they’re still there!). Pull tiny weeds as they pop up and use a hoe regularly to weaken and keep the weeds in check.
I find optimum times for sowing seeds for your edible garden, is through the first two weeks of August. As there is less energy around to grow in the winter, it’s really important that your winter crops get sown early so that they can take advantage of some summer sun to get well established. You can sow direct into soil but I find sowing into plug trays or pots and germinating undercover (e.g. greenhouse or windowsill) much more effective. Sowing this way enables the plants to be more established and so stand a better chance of survival when planted out as plugs. It’s important to keep compost good germination particularly as this month can be hot when the sun comes out.
The following seeds are what I will be sowing this month:
Spinach: Spinach I find is great sown now; it doesn’t bolt and will keep producing for many months, flowering in spring the following year.
Spring Onions: These are great for all round growing, sown now they will be ready to harvest through winter. Sown in September they won’t be ready until the following spring. I multi sow my onions into modules rather than direct, but either way is fine. Sow approx. 10 seeds per module, once they’ve germinated no need to split them, just plant them out in clumps.
Asian Greens: Pak Choi, Tatsoi, Chinese Cabbage all grow well if planted now and can give harvests through colder months without bolting, they are fast growers so you can sow these up to end September and it will be OK, the ground is so warm that they won’t mind a late sowing.
Lettuce: Sowing in August lettuces will grow quickly and be able to be harvested through the winter, sown a little later in the year; you are looking at harvest towards spring.
As with most of these sowings, if they’re outside then they will benefit from weather protection with something such as thermacrop which can protect against wind and cold weather.
Have a lovely August, enjoy the garden and enjoy your harvest