The Vegetable Plot – August

The plot thickens

August is the last chance to grow salads but sowings and seedlings will need shade from the sun and heat. Grow Little Gem and Tom Thumb lettuces, radishes and mustard and cress.

Endives can be blanched by covering them with inverted flower pots. Second - early potatoes such as Maris Piper and Wilja should be ready but lift them only as you require them. Early beetroot should also be lifted before they get too big.

Now is the time to make a new strawberry bed. If you have strawberry runners on existing parent plants that were pegged down to root they can be severed and planted in new beds. Raised beds are best for strawberries. If you’re starting from scratch you can buy bare-rooted plants or pot-grown ones. Onions ripening off can be hastened by bending over the leaves just above the neck.

• Sow spring cabbages
• Feed and train tomatoes
• Earth up maincrop celery
• Sow winter spinach and spinach beet
• Prune summer fruiting raspberries
• Harvest shallots
• Sow red cabbage and turnips
• Spray and ventilate peaches and nectarines in the greenhouse