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Gardening tips for August
August Gardening Tips
August is the month when you reap the fruits of your labour and hopefully you will have a bumper harvest. In fact, sometimes you have far more than you can eat but there are several ways of preserving the fruit and vegetables for use through the winter months. Several root vegetables store well in a cool, ventilated spot such as a shed or garage. Root crops, such as carrots and parsnips should have their leaves and loose soil removed and then put into layers of damp sand. Potatoes should be dried off in the sun and then stored in hessian sacks. I went to the local fi sh and chip shop and they gave me their old paper potato bags! There are not many things you can sow or plant now for harvesting this year, maybe salad leaves, a last planting of carrots or turnips and some leafy vegetables such as chard. However, as space becomes available when crops fi nish, you can plant overwintering crops such as Brussels sprouts, spring cabbage and winter caulifl owers. Cabbage seeds can be planted in a temporary bed or in pots or modules; remember to cover them with nets to keep off the birds and caterpillars. • Prune gooseberry and currant bushes. • Strawberry runners that have been potted can be transplanted into a sunny, fertile spot where you have not grown them for at least three years. Planting them through plastic will help conserve moisture and provide warmth during the winter.
• Make sure that you harvest courgettes regularly, before they grow too large. • Cut to the ground all summer-fruiting raspberry canes that have borne fruit this year and tie in the new green canes that will produce next year’s fruit. • Tomatoes, pumpkins and squash need feeding with a tomato fertiliser. • Outdoor tomatoes should have their growth stopped by the middle of the month – nip out the leading growing shoot just above the highest truss. Continue pinching out and do not forget to provide support for the plants as they become more heavily laden – also for cucumbers, peppers and even fruit trees. • Keep earthing up potatoes to prevent the tubers being exposed and also brassicas to support unsteady stems. • Dig over any spaces that have been left from harvesting crops, where you could grow ‘green manure’, such as clover or vetch, which will provide nitrogen for the soil, or alfalfa, cress or mustard which will help break up the soil. • Pinch out the tops of climbing beans when they reach the top of the canes, as this will encourage growth lower down, and harvest regularly before they become tough and stringy: you can let some grow on to produce bean seeds for next year. • Be on the lookout for potato blight, especially if the weather is damp and humid. Cut off the stems at ground level as soon as you see the tell-tale brown fungal patches. This prevents the blight reaching the tubers. Enjoy!
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