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 

Harvest beetroot

  • 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 

sow

  • 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.