Kitchen Garden Magazine

Grow your own fruit and veg with the UK's No. 1 Kitchen Garden magazine

Under cover

August brings baskets of tomatoes, fresh-picked corn cobs, cucumbers, peppers, melons, aubergines and much more besides. It may be too hot to sit inside the greenhouse, but why not stand in the doorway and raise a glass to celebrate. This is a time to appreciate what growing under cover is all about

Peppers

There should be plenty of green fruit this month. These will turn to red or orange as they ripen. A few varieties ripen to more unusual colours. Some people prefer the sweeter taste of ripened fruit, others like to pick when peppers are full-sized, but still green.

In a dull summer it is worth laying sheets of aluminum foil on the ground around plants. This allows maximum sunlight to reach the fruit and speeds up the ripening process.

Aubergines

These can benefit from a tin-foil mulch too. Just make sure the ground doesn’t dry out too much underneath. Fruit should be swelling nicely and the first ones will be ready to use. Pick while the skin is still shiny and the flesh is plump. Watch out for spines on the stem—they can damage fingers when harvesting.

Cucumbers and melons

Both of these should be fruiting well, although melons will only really give good crops in a hot summer. Both are susceptible to rot in the lower stem and roots. To avoid this, get a balance between watering enough to keep fruit swelling, but not enough to create a hot, wet, mix just at ground level. This can be a fine balance and I prefer to err on the side of a drier root run. Earthing up around the lower stem with fresh compost will usually stimulate new, healthy root growth.

Spray plants overhead in dry weather —this will reduce problems with red spider mite. Watch out for signs of mineral deficiency and use a seaweed foliar spray to give a quick feed.

Remember to keep harvesting cucumbers even if you are sick of the sight of them. The plants will eventually slow down, but you do want to keep them fruiting into October if possible.

Sweetcorn

I think of August as the month to enjoy fresh corn on the cob. Of course, later sowings may head into September, but August is the glut month, when fresh corn should be eaten as soon as the cobs are ripe. Cobs are ready to harvest when the silks protruding from the end shrivel and turn brown. If you are unsure, peel back the husk a little and press a kernel with your thumbnail. It should be juicy and will burst with the pressure to release a milky liquid. A clear liquid means the cob isn’t quite ripe; no liquid means the cob is over ripe. If in doubt cook one and eat it. Don’t leave cobs to over ripen. They become starchy and tough.

The number of kernels set in each cob will have been determined weeks ago. Never leave cobs on the plant in the hope that they might grow more kernels. It just doesn’t work that way. A half-filled cob still tastes pretty good!

For much more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!

Copyright information

All content is ©copyright Mortons Media Group 2008 • Organic Garden & Home magazine | Subscribe | Buy current issue