Grow your own on an allotment
Grow your own in August
Growing your own food is healthy, fun and good for the environment.
Got five hours to spare? Go to the allotment pages at Cardiff Council and get an allotment.
August is a time for enjoying the harvest, this year we are picking a lot of food both off our allotment and in the wilder abandoned plots where blackberries have taken a hold. Squash, courgettes,
cucumbers, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, salads and herbs are all proliferating.
Apples, plums, blackcurrants, blackberries, pears and redcurrants are all ripening beautifully and should be ready to pick from the beginning of August.
Introducing a lot of manure into the beds has also paid off this year, we have had a bumper crop of potatoes whilst other people have struggled.
Jobs for August
- Water your plants as often as possible. Save rain water in butts to reduce your use of tap water.
- Weed as often as possible. Hoeing the beds helps with this.
- If you haven't already done so, add a mulch to your beds to help retain water.
- If you have strawberries and they are starting to throw out runners, pin them into pots so that you have new plants for next year.
- Sow winter spinach, rocket, winter raddish, spring cabbage, pak choi, chinese cabbage and mustard greens in trays.
- Sow turnips in situ. They don't like to be moved.
- Sow herbs such as parsley and chervil for the winter months. Pot up the chives for winter.
- Take cuttings from woody herbs such as rosemary, lavender and sage.
- Preserve some of your fruits by making them them into jam. You can then appreciate the taste of summer in the cold winter months.
