JOBS THIS MONTH
WITH SO MUCH TALK OF RISING food bills, I'm sure most vegetable gardeners are feeling at least a little smug as they labour to eat, preserve, freeze and give away August's bounty of runner beans, courgettes and tomatoes.
Despi
te sowing seeds throughout the season and picking crops while they're tiny, sweet and tender, gluts are hard to avoid completely, so make the most of them. I enjoy the guilt-free decadence of wolfing down the freshest vegetables like they're going out of season, because all too soon they do and I might not taste them again for a year.
Of course, it's great to store some for the winter too; peas and beans freeze particularly well, while tomatoes and chillies make delicious chutneys. Onions, shallots and garlic should be ready to lift this month when their necks turn papery and brown and fall over. They're easy to store, but need to be dried first, either out in the sun, in a dry greenhouse or shed.
If you fancy growing your own it's not too late to sow leafy crops such as spring cabbage, kale, perpetual spinach and Swiss chard in the open, or you could take the opportunity to get organised and start digging plenty of compost and manure into a sunny piece of ground so it's perfect for planting in spring.
The ornamental garden should still be rewarding your efforts with plenty of colour this month, but keep deadheading to prolong the display for as long as possible. Having said that, the seed heads of some plants, particularly grasses, alliums and teasels, look fabulous through autumn and winter, so they can be spared the chop.
If there are a few gaps that need filling, why not try taking some semi-ripe cuttings from favourite plants in your own or friends' gardens? Many shrubs and woody perennials can be propagated from now into autumn, including ceanothus, rosemary, lavender, penstemon and dianthus, so look for this season's side shoots with soft growth at the tip and a firm, almost woody, base and cut with clean secateurs. Trim to just below a leaf node, remove the lower leaves, pinch out the tip and push the base into gritty compost. Then water, cover with a clear plastic bag to keep the humidity high and place in a warm, light spot on a windowsill until the cutting roots and starts to grow away. Although I have to warn you, home-raised plants can induce almost as much smugness as home-grown vegetables.
The full article contains 427 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
