There’s still lots of potential to sow seed for autumn and early winter crops
August is a busy time. There are so many crops that need harvesting that we may forget there’s also still time to sow more vegetable seed for later season edibles.
In the past, the first frosts often arrived at the back end of September, but for some time now we’ve had longer, milder autumns. These have meant many more ‘bonus’ crop growing opportunities could be up for grabs. Of course there’s always the risk, as the weather is uncertain nowadays, but extra seed sowing is well worth a punt. After all, space is available as crops such as the last onions, garlic and new potatoes have been lifted. Naturally you will need to water exceptionally well if the weather is hot and dry but the warm soil usually ensures rapid and good germination – something we have been missing most in recent springs.
Think lovely pick and come again leaves
Salad crops such as rocket, spinaches, mustards, lettuces and endives grown especially for cutting crops of small leaves can be sown now for really rapid returns. Sow rows or patches of chervil, dill, parsley and other soft herbs to enliven the salad leaves. Along with radishes, wee turnip and baby carrots, try spring onions, which are so much slower than the others they need a spot on their own. Sow a winter hardy variety such as ‘White Lisbon’ and they’ll stand for spring use, if the slugs don’t get them that is.
Surprisingly, batches of Pak-choi, so useful for stir fries, and the aniseed flavoured Florence fennel do far better sown now than earlier in the spring as they are less inclined to bolt. These are really rapid croppers, though again watch out for slug damage.
Possibly even peas and beans which also enrich the soil
If you’ve sown or bought in overwintering/hardy spring cabbage plants these should go in their cropping positions about now, and surprisingly it’s not too late to put out leek plants – though only if you give them staggeringly rich moist conditions otherwise they’ll be puny. Even so they’ll keep growing right through mid winter for use next spring.
Peas, along with French and climbing varieties of bean sown now are also potential autumn crops, though they are frost sensitive and this may be riskier as they take longer to mature. However, they have another huge benefit, because even if they do not make it to harvest, their leguminous root nodules enrich your soil with nitrogen, and their tops make good compost. Indeed, we ought to sow legumes on every bit of spare soil for those reasons alone.
Naturally if you have a greenhouse then the growing season extends further still, enabling later crops of salads and French beans with much more certainty. I find climbing French beans in tubs are really good value for their space, mange tout and sugar snap peas likewise.
Why not grow your own Christmas spuds?
Sets of early varieties of potato just for autumn planting are sold commercially (often called ‘Christmas potatoes’), or you may have saved some back from spring. Plant these in big tubs or black plastic sacks of compost and grow them through the rest of summer into autumn undercover. There they usually escape blight and produce a crop of new potatoes before winter, and will keep fresh in their tubs so are a good plan for your Christmas feast.
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