August harvesting of vegetables provides a veritable feast for our tables, friends and families

In your vegetable garden in August 2011

Stringing onions is much easier
than trying to make a French
plait. The method is described
on the Storing the harvest
factsheet

The vegetable garden should be cropping well in August, and may be producing more than you can cope with. Enjoy as much fresh produce as you can, and look to store the rest – short or long term. Our factsheet Storing the harvest will help you get it right.

If chillis are your thing, why not come to Chilli Day on Saturday 20th August,  at Garden Organic’s Ryton Gardens in Warwickshire. Click here for details

Two regular questions to the Garden Organic Advisors at this time of year are:

• "Why aren't my Runner beans setting?"
• "What green manures should I sow now?"

To find the answer to either of these, click on the question.

Potato and tomato blight are often common problems at this time of year. The very dry weather that many parts of the country have been experiencing have at least made this disease less prevalent. If you are one of the unlucky ones, try our factsheets for advice.
Tomato blight
Potato blight

Online access to factsheets requires members' password - find out about becoming a member here.

Things to do in the vegetable garden this month

Vegetable Garden Maintenance

• 
  Runner bean flowers
• Pinch out runner beans that have reached the top of their supports.
• Encourage runner beans to set
  Runner beans can be a frustrating crop when they fail to set. There could be several reasons:
  • Lack of pollinating insects – See our Attracting beneficial insects factsheet for more information.
  • Are they getting enough water? - In dry spells, the flowers fall off instead of producing a bumper crop of beans. Contrary to popular belief, spraying flowers with water does not increase flower set. Runner beans need water at the roots. In dry weather, water well at soil level, at a rate of 5-10lt/sq m twice a week. It is normal for runner beans to produce more flowers than can possibly be set as beans - expect a 50% loss.
  • For information on water conservation follow the link: Ten top tips on how to conserve water in the organic garden.

Composting and weeding

• 
  Wheelbarrow full of weeds
• Continue composting brown and green material in a roughly 50:50 ratio. Add grass clippings to speed up the decomposition process. Remember to keep the heap covered to retain moisture.
• If your compost enthusiasm is waning, or you could do with some helpful advice or some new ideas, The Garden Organic Book of Compost could be just what you need. This NEW book from the Sustainable Waste team at Ryton will be available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue and in the shops by the end of August.
  
• Do not give your hoe a moments rest! Although it is easier to hand weed after a rainy day, when it is hot and dry, hoeing is just the thing. Hot weather will dry up weeds and destroy them before they get a chance to re-root. Take out annual weeds before they seed and add to the compost heap.
• Perennial weeds, such as couch grass, docks and dandelions are often consigned to a  bonfire or the green waste bin. This is such a waste as the roots and tops are full of minerals and plant foods. There are ‘greener’ alternatives:
  1. Stuff the weeds into an old plastic compost sack or similar. Add water, grass mowings, or diluted urine if the weeds are old or dry. Loosely tie the top of the sack and leave it for several months or longer until the weeds are no longer recognizable. Add the black sludge to your compost heap.
  2. If you have loads of perennial weeds, heap them up in a big pile, watering or adding grass mowings if necessary. Cover the pile tightly with black plastic and leave to rot. It may take a year or more, but they will produce lots of lovely, weed-free compost.

Watering

• When watering your vegetables, the golden rule is 'soak not splash'. Give plants an occasional thorough soaking rather than watering little and often. Apply water directly to the soil in the mornings to prevent leaf scorch. For more tips see our information on watering vegetables.

Sowing and Harvesting

• 
  Sunburst squash
• Quick maturing and oriental salad crops can still be sown such as lettuce, rocket, radish chicory, mizuna and mibuna can still be sown. Check the salad leaves and oriental vegetables page in The Organic Gardening Catalogue for seed varieties and information on what to plant when.
• Harvest onions and  shallots to eat fresh, or for storage. When the tops have fallen over naturally, lift the individual bulbs to break the roots. Leave on the ground, or in a dry, sunny place until the skins are ‘rustle’ dry, before storing
  
• Pumpkins and winter squash intended for storage will benefit from maximum exposure to sunlight to help the skin to mature. Remove strategic foliage that hides the fruits and lift them up onto a mat of straw, a couple of bricks or a very low, upturned slatted box. This allows air to circulate, enabling the part resting on the soil to dry out, and at the same time avoid proximity with slugs.
  

Green manures

• Sow green manures/cover crops on any ground expected to be vacant for more than 6 weeks. These are grown specifically to:
• • Protect and maintain soil structure: Protecting against erosion and transpiration at a time when the soil would otherwise be bare and open to the elements.
  • Increase soil fertility: Leguminous crops can be grown whi ch have the ability to fix nitrogen from the air.
  • Improve soil structure: Replacing humus and nutrient content after crop removal.

  They can also be a pretty addition to the veg garden as shown in the pictures below and attract beneficial insects as they flower.

  See our online guide to Growing green manures in the vegetable garden for more information.

  Green manure seeds, and 'Green manures for organic soil improvement' a useful booklet that tells you how to use them, are available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue

SORT OUT YOUR SOIL is a NEW publication from Garden Organic, produced in conjunction with Cotswold Seeds. This very practical guide to green manures, for growers and gardeners, is the distillation of more than 50 years of our research and practical experience.
To obtain a copy, call 024 7630 8210. We suggest a donation of £3 to cover postage and packing.

• Green manures at a glance

  Plant	Type	Overwinter?	Sowing time	Place in rotation
  Field beans	HA	Yes	Sept-Nov	Pea and beans section. Does well in heavy soil. Does not provide dense cover.
  Red clover	HP	Yes	Apr-Aug	Pea and bean section. Prefers a good, loamy soil
  Phacelia	HA	Possibly	Mar-Sep	Anywhere. May not be frost hardy in cooler areas. Not fussy about soil type.
  Radish	HB	Yes	Aug-Sep	Cabbage section
  Grazing rye	HA	Yes	Aug-Oct	Anywhere, except where small seeded crops are to be direct sown next spring. Provides very good, dense cover when sown before mid-September.
  Tares	HA	Yes	Mar-Sep	Pea and bean section; excellent where cabbage family are to grow next season. Good for no-dig methods of gardening, as easy to hoe off and leave to decompose in situ. Sow by early September to get a good cover.

  
  HA    - hardy annual
  HB   - hardy biennial
  HP   - hardy perennial
  

Holiday checklist

• If possible try and get a neighbour or friend to pick your crops t as well as water them. Courgettes, cucumbers, peas, French and runner beans and tomatoes need regular harvesting to encourage the plants to  continue to crop and to ensure harvested veg is tender.
• Plants in containers in full/partial sun should be moved into the shade, a mulch applied and watered well.
• Provide support well in advance for peas, beans, tomatoes and sweetcorn.

Sowing and Planting

• 
  Swiss chard
  
  
  Kohl rabi
• Continue to sow outdoors

  	Amaranth	for leaf production
  M	Chinese cabbage	until end of August
  M	Spring cabbage	sow in seedbed to transplant in Sept/Oct
  M	Chicory, red and sugar loaf	until end of August
  	Coriander	for leaf production
  	Florence fennel	last sowings early August
  	Fenugreek (methi)	for leaf production
  	Kohl rabi	until end of August. Try Azure Star available from The Organic Catalogue. A quick maturing crop with a striking purple bulb encasing a white flesh. The leaves can also be eaten like cabbage.
  M	Lamb's Lettuce	Also called corn salad, very hardy winter salad with a soft texture and mild flavour. Lasts well throughout the winter, and when it flowers next spring the flowers can be eaten too.
  M	Land cress	Also known as American cress. Makes an excellent substitute for watercress and is very hardy, usually surviving even the toughest winter.
  	Lettuce	sow winter varieties (see Organic Gardening Catalogue) for harvesting in November and December
  	Japanese onions	sow in August. Try Senshyu Yellow, or Keepwell to harvest next June. Sets can be planted in September, but put your order in now to ensure availability.
  	Salad onions	winter varieties from August onwards
  	Oriental greens	A whole range of these useful crops can be sown now. Go to The Organic Gardening Catalogue for details.
  M	Pak choi	until end of August. China Choi has thick white stems and contrasting dark green leaves.
  	Peas	Last chance for autumn harvest. Sow a quick, 'early' variety such as Douce Provence or Meteor
  	Radish, mooli	until end of August
  	Radish, winter	Until end August. Sow winter varieties such as China Rose and Black Spanish Round
  M	Rocket	Although known principally as a summer salad, an August sowing of rocket will last well into the autumn and sometimes survive the winter in mild conditions or with some protection. The cooler temperatures at this time of year discourage rocket from going to seed so quickly.
  M	Spinach, perpetual	Until mid August, or end of August under cover. You'll find it under Leaf Beet in the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
  M	Swiss Chard	Until mid August, or end of August undercover. To brighten up your winter plot, try the variety 'Bright Lights'. Stems can be orange, yellow, red, bright pink or even white! You'll find it under Beet in the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
  	Turnip	early varieties till end August; maincrop varieties till August. One of the easiest vegetables to grow, best harvested when the size of a tennis ball. Try White Globe or Purple Top Milan.
  M	Winter purslane	Goes by the additional names of claytonia and miner's lettuce. Another very hardy winter salad, good at self seeding. Produces small, mild tasting, succulent leaves. Sow direct until end of the month.

  
  
  M = may also be raised in modules for transplanting
   
• What you could be eating now
  - if you remembered to sow it and if the weather has been kind.
  

  Globe artichokes Aubergine Beetroot Beet leaf Broccoli Broad beans French beans Runner beans Beetroot Cabbage Calabrese Carrots Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Chard Chicory Courgettes Cucumber (outdoors and in) Endive Fennel

  Garlic Kohl rabi Leaf beet Leeks Lettuce Marrow Melon Mibuna Mizuna Onions Onions, salad Parsley Peas Potatoes Summer squash Sweet corn Radish Shallots Spinach Tomatoes Turnip

Pest and disease watch

• 
  Potato late blight
  
  
  Potato early blight
  Infected leaves showing
  distinctive concentric rings
  Early and late potato blight
  Contrary to its name, the fungal disease, Potato Early blight or target spot (Alternaria solani) can affect potato crops late in the season. It is commonly seen in July and August. It is also known as target spot, as the fungus grows in concentric rings which can be seen on the brown patches.
  Not as serious as the more widely known late blight (Phytophthora infestans), control is usually unnecessary and rarely affects cropping.
  
  

  Potato blight (Phytophthora infestans) was a huge problem last year but this year does not seem to be so serious, as yet. Potatoes can be saved if the disease is spotted in its very early stages. Remove the foliage down to soil level, and then leave the tubers in the soil for a minimum of 2 weeks before harvesting. Sort potatoes carefully when you do lift them and be sure to discard any that show signs of disease. If not, you risk stored potatoes turning into a rotten, slimy mess.

  Garden organic members can see our factsheets on Tomato blight and Potato blight for more information.
  
  Access to this factsheet requires members' password.
  Find out more about Garden Organic membership. Non-members please can call 024-7630-8215 for a free copy.
  
  
  
• 
  Tomato blight - on fruit
  
  Blossom end rot
  Tomato blight  
  Potato blight can also attack tomatoes - growing both outside and in greenhouses and is often noticed first on the fruits. The brown leathery patches caused by blight are often confused with the symptoms of blossom end rot - a condition usually caused by irregular watering. Blossom end rot patches are dark brown/ black and always occur at the bottom end of the fruit, away from the stem.
  
• Keep on top of brassica pest control on over wintering cabbages, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Whitefly and cabbage aphid can build up over the summer and survive the winter, ready to move on to new spring crops if the cycle is not broken. Pick off infested lower leaves. Spray with insecticidal soap if infestations are bad.
  See our factsheets on Aphids and Cabbage whitefly for more information.

  Factsheets are password-protected and can only be accessed by Garden Organic members.
  Find out more about becoming a member here or ring Garden Organic Ryton at (024) 7630 3517.

  The factsheets provide up to date information on the life cycle of the disease including prevention & control methods.

• Onion downy mildew
  Onion downy mildew, Peronospora destructor, is a common fungal disease of onions. It is particularly bad in cool, wet seasons, and in humid, coastal districts. Shallots, chives, Welsh onion and garlic can also be affected.

  Garden organic members can see our factsheet on Onion downy mildew for more information.
  
  Access to this factsheet requires members' password.
  Find out more about Garden Organic membership. Non-members please can call 024-7630-8215 for a free copy.
  
  
• 
  Cabbage white butterfly
  eggs and caterpillars
  Continue to keep a watch for cabbage caterpillars, and pick off any that you see.
  
• Put out slug traps around new sowings and plantings - preferably a week or two before sowing or planting.
• 
  Chocolate spot
  on broad beans

• Chocolate spot - Common and widespread on broad beans, particularly in wet and humid conditions like those we have been having recently. Chocolate spot is a fungus whose symptoms include dark, chocolate brown, more or less rounded spots appearing on the leaves, mainly the upper surfaces, but also stems, leaf stalks, pods, seed coats and flowers.

  Other types of spots can occur quite commonly on bean leaves that can be mistaken for chocolate spot. In all cases improve drainage, increase spacing between plants and avoid sheltered sites. The application of potash to the soil will help the plants to thrive as this fungus will affect less thrifty plants primarily.

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