What to do now - JuLy
It's that time of year...
With those longer summer days, we've been able to spend more time on our plots and the results are clearly visible. The warmer weather is now providing additional assistance by stimulating the activity of crops, insects and weeds. But weeds similarly enjoy this boost , so continue to hoe and weed. On the hot, dry weather, it’s important to harvest rainwater whenever possible, and apply mulch to beds to prevent the soil from drying up.
In hot weather plants need protection from the heat. Apply mulches around plants to reduce the amount of moisture escaping from the soil. Consider applying temporary screens where plants are exposed to directly sunlight for long periods of the day. If you are planting out new seedlings, these can get some protection from the sun if located where they benefit from shading from established nearby plants.
Importantly, remember to protect yourself from the sun - wear a hat and apply sun cream whenever UV levels are medium or high.
Onions will be ready from mid-July when they stop growing and the leaves turn yellow – if there are a few days forecast without rain, partially dig them up with a fork and allow to dry out for a few days in-situ before storing. There should be an abundance of crops so think about how to store any surplus: pickling, drying, freezing and preserving.
And there’s still time to fill any gaps on our plots with late season seeds. Salad crops – lettuce, endive, radish, mustard and cress - can be planted and harvested within a few short weeks but beware of ants, aphids and slugs/snails.
For meal ideas for the time of year see our Seasonal Recipes.
Mid-summer is the time to feed tomatoes and other fruiting vegetables and to thin out hard fruit.
Allotment tasks
Sow Now
Sow beetroot, French beans and peas.
Plant out cabbages, cauliflowers and other brassicas for harvesting during autumn/winter.
Seasonal Recipes
Longcroft Allotment Association's Seasonal Recipes web page
Jobs
Feed tomatoes and other fruiting vegetables.
Thin out hard fruit if there are exceptional numbers of budding fruits.
Harvest
Courgettes, onions, salad vegetables, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries.
Leaf Salad Crops
Salad crops develop quickly, and there are a wide variety – sorrel, lettuce, endive, kale, radicchio and mustard leaves - to suit various conditions.
They can be grown in seed drills, broadcast over an area of ground or grown in containers. Either way, they offer a fresh and tasty alternative to bags of supermarket salads.
As salad crops can outgrow weeds, watering and pests are the main concerns for salad growers. Watering every two days may be necessary during long dry spells if salad crops are grown in compost rich beds (daily watering may be necessary if they are grown in small pots).
Slugs are the main pest, and can be treated with pellets, nematodes, or regular picking off. Ants and aphids can also be a problem – ants can be kept in check if the surrounding soil is kept moist. Aphids can be squashed by hand if they are not tackled by ladybirds or beetles.
Regular collect leaves when they are ready to harvest. If leaves start to sag after harvesting they can be recovered by soaking in cold water.
Protect Winter Brassicas
A well planned plot will have some well-developed brassicas as we head towards winter: various types of kale, cabbage, sprouts and broccoli. Give them a helping hand by:
- Fitting mesh or netting to protect them from pigeons
- Stake out taller Brussels sprouts and broccoli plants
- Remove any yellow leaves to discourage white fly and improve air circulation
- Apply soft soap solutions to help protect against pests the following spring
Chitting Potatoes
February is time to prepare seed potatoes for planting by ‘chitting’ them – storing them in such a way that they start to sprout before being planted in the ground.
The potatoes should be spread out over a single layer in a cool, dry place which is free from the risk of frost. Large, unused egg boxes are ideal for this, allowing air circulation between each seed potato.
Ideally the storage area should be bright but the seed potatoes should be out of direct sunlight. After a few days the potatoes will then grow short stubby shoots which will help the potato plants to grow when they are planted out to get them off to a fast start when planted out. St Patrick’s Day is the traditional day of the year to plant potatoes.
There is some evidence that you can grow larger potatoes by breaking off the weaker shoots just before planting, leaving only the three or four stronger shoots to grow.