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

In your vegetable garden in August

The vegetable garden should be at its peak in August. August is usually the time of maximum harvesting with everything ripening in the late summer sunshine (hopefully!). Enjoy whatever bounty that this month brings and be sure to store your vegetables correctly to prolong their life.

Here at Garden Organic Ryton, as part of the Organic Fortnight, in September we will be celebrating the 'Organic Harvest' with an event offering talks, tastings and guided tours, free to Garden Organic Members.

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?"

If you want to know the answer to either of these, click on the question.

Questions on potato blight are also common. For more information, see our Potato Blight factsheet which includes details of early blight (Alternaria solani). 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 end of their support.
• 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 you watering enough? - 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 50:50 ratio. Add grass clippings to speed up the decomposition process. Remember to keep the heap covered to retain moisture.
• Do not give your hoe a moments rest! Although it is easier to hand weed after a rainy day, hoeing during 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. Place perennial weeds in a bin liner with lawn clippings, loosely tie and leave in a sunny spot. Wait until the contents are unrecognisable and then add to the heap.

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. 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, shallots and garlic to eat fresh, or for storage. They are ready when the leaves turn brown and papery and start to bend. Once harvested lay out in the sun for skins to ripen and then store in nets in a cool, airy location.
  
• 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 which 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

  
• 
  Green manures here at Garden Organic Ryton in the pest and disease control garden.
  From left to right: Lupins (Lupinus angustifolius), Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), Mustard (Sinapsis alba).

• 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 harvest as well as water. Courgettes, cucumbers, peas, corn, French and runner beans and tomatoes need regular harvesting to encourage the plants to produce further cropping and ensure harvested veg is tender.
• Containers in full/partial sunlight should be moved into the shade, a mulch applied and watered well.
• Provide support well in advance for peas, beans, tomatoes and sweetcorn.
• Make mowing the lawn your last job.

Sowing and Planting

• 
  Swiss chard
  
  
  Kohl rabi
• Continue to sow outdoors

  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
  	Florence fennel	last sowings early August
  	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
  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 (second earlies and maincrop) 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 factsheet on 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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