We are at a kind of turn around point in the season now, with most of our attention being on harvesting (hopefully). There is a last chance to get a few extras in the ground over the next week, and then there’s a bit of a lull until we hit autumn planting time in September for those who’d like to grow over the winter.
Harvesting & Growing
We’re really coming into the peak harvesting season now and, with luck, you should have plenty of veggies to enjoy. Beans, peas, courgettes, summer squash, baby corn and plenty of faster growing roots like carrots, beetroot and turnips may be quite abundant at the moment, and there will probably be plenty of leaves and greens to pick from kale plants, lettuces, salads and spinach and chard too.
A lot of brassicas and roots, and leeks too, will need a little longer before you harvest them. For these, it is worth checking to see how they are getting on – look for signs of cabbages and cauliflowers forming a head now, make sure leeks aren’t bolting (forming a bud at the top of the stem – if they are, pull them up to enjoy as baby leeks) and make sure parsnip crowns aren’t showing above the soil (earth them up if they are) and that celery and celeriac are getting plenty of water now (this is the time that celeriac begins to swell its roots).
Last Chance Summer Planting
There’s just time, in mid August, to plant a last batch of cabbages, cauliflowers and sprouts. These aren’t available to plant in autumn, so if you would like to over winter them, now is the time to get them in the ground. The same is true for leeks, and you could pop a few extra parsnips in the ground too.
Some quicker growers can be planted now as well, for a harvest in autumn – a last few rows of beetroot or carrots is a great idea. You can also bung in a whole batch of summer salads and lettuces – they’ll keep you going through to October probably.
Plant up plenty of flowers now as well – most will re-seed at the end of the season so that you have an instantly colourful plot next summer – violas, nasturtiums, calendula are great choices, and there’s loads in our cut flower selection too.
Late Summer Lull – mid Aug to early Sept
We tend not to ship plants for a couple of weeks at this time of year, so there is a brief planting gap, hence the encouragement to get any last chance summer planting done before it is too late!
Autumn Planting
In September, there is a chance to get a whole load of new plants into your veg plot to grow over winter. This is the time to plant up extra kale, spinach and chard. There are also lots of hardy winter salad leaves that you can plant, and a few things, like broccoli and spring greens, that you can plant to enjoy early in the following spring.
These plants are usually available until late October, but the earlier you can get them planted in your veg patch, the better – the longer, warmer days really help them to get established ahead of the clocks going back and the nights becoming chillier.