As August comes to an end I start to think about tidying up the vegetable plot and harvesting whatever I can. The white onions have been hanging up to dry in the potting shed for a month so it’s time for some of them to come into the house; the others get stuffed into a stocking and hung in the workshop at the back of the garage.
I’ve belatedly dug up the shallots and red onions. Hopefully I will get a few more warm days so they will dry in the potting shed.
As always, will I ever learn, I turn my back on the courgettes and they grow into marrows. Those in the photo may find their way to the top of the drive to be given away. I promise myself every year that I will only grow one courgette plant because you only need one per person however if 4 seeds grow then I cannot help myself but plant them out. The carrots have done really well but how many can one person consume. I might try lifting the potatoes and carrots and put them into a bag of sand to see if that will preserve them rather than leave them in the ground where they will be eaten by slugs and grubs.
The runner beans are good if I pick them early however if I miss and they grow large then they become very stringy. I’ve enough to be choosy about which ones make it to the table and which ones go straight into the compost.
As I take out the produce I can see that some digging and weeding will be needed to tidy up the plots before autumn gets a hold. I also need to dig in copious amounts of compost to give the soil some body to improve its water retention. After a very heavy downpour the other evening the soil is dry a few centimeters down.
