Tips and Recipes

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Top Tips

Now is the time to clear the dead leaves from your strawberry plants and give them a feed with fish, blood and bone.

Be prepared to protect young seedlings from frost and the usual allotment wildlife at this time of year with some cover such as fleece and netting. If it can be grown indoors or on a windowsill then don't be too hasty to plant out whilst waiting for soil temperatures to increase (and there's more in the fields for the wildlife to eat).

Our insects are declining rapidly and need our help. Sow wildflower seeds in pots or plots to attract beneficial insects or plant herbs such as English lavender, wild thyme (Thymus polytrichus), wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare), fennel and Rosemary which are highly attractive to insects and pollinators.

The bugs and birds are out in force, so protect any vulnerable crops e.g. brassicas and carrots with netting/mesh.

Empty plastic bottles on canes driven into the ground are great for creating vibrations and noise to deter moles and birds!

Naughty pigeons love pea shoots so you may want to net plants until they are well established.

Watering is a much-debated topic amongst members, and a dry spell may be making you wonder what really needs watering when water butts are running dry and transporting from home is a heavy job. Our advice would be to only water seeds and plants to get them established then leave them alone to grow strong deep roots and find their own water.

Remember to feed your plants! The available nutrients in compost significantly reduce after four to six weeks, so start to use a supplemental feed after this. Most plants will require a weekly feed but check the requirements for your own plants.

Good feeds include:

homemade comfrey feed

tomato feed

seaweed liquid fertiliser

For instructions on how to make your own comfrey feed see here:

How to Make Comfrey Feed

Rhubarb – when harvesting, twist and pull! The leaves can then be laid around other plants, such as brassicas, as a weed suppressant.

Gooseberry - check your plants for sawfly and, if you find any, knock the plant to cause them to fall onto the ground. Dispose of them appropriately – most gardeners will tell you the best is to swiftly squash them. Alternative nematode solutions are available.

Regularly pick soft fruit as it ripens and before our feathered friends eat it all! Strawberries, raspberries, currants (red/black/white), gooseberries and rhubarb all freeze well. If you have too many - wash, dry, top and tail as necessary, then pop in the freezer. They can be put in big tubs, labelled with a date and weight so you can take them out whenever you need them for a batch of jam, smoothie, or a crumble.

Onions – if you are harvesting these, try not to do so after rainfall as the additional water means they are more likely to rot in storage.

New Zealand Flatworm – There are approximately 21 species of land flatworms in Britain but only four are native. The non-native Australian and New Zealand flatworms are perhaps best known and have become widespread. These are predatory and feed on earthworms. If you spot these, destroy any that you can and avoid sharing plants or soil between gardens. More information can be found here: Non-native flatworms / RHS Gardening

The warm wet weather has brought out the whitefly, so check your plants – especially pansies, tomatoes and peppers. To remove and deter them, use a mix of dish soap and water. A good squirt of soap to a gallon of water should work. Spray it onto the entire plant. Only spray in cooler temperatures, late in the day is best.

Onions & Garlic: Lift and cure them in the sun before storing.

Tomatoes, courgettes, peas and beans: Pick regularly to encourage continued cropping.

Weeding: Continue regular weeding & hoeing to keep weeds at bay and aerate the soil.

Pest Watch: Check brassicas daily for cabbage white butterfly eggs and caterpillars. Use netting to deter them.

Green Manure: Sow on cleared beds to enrich soil over Winter.

Order Bulbs & Sets: Get your garlic, onion, and shallot sets ready for autumn planting.

In preparation for the seasons changing, clean and dry all equipment and store it somewhere protected from the elements.

Prune fruit bushes between now and early march, while they are dormant, as this will allow them to come back with vigorous new growth in the spring.

Now is the time to order bare root plants, such as fruit bushes, for planting over winter.

Consider which crops you could plant in the next few months. Onions and garlic, for example, grow well over the cold months.

Now is the time to divide rhubarb crowns if you would like new plants next year.

Move any tender plants into a greenhouse or cold frame to protect from frost.

Clean up your pots, tidy your plot, and compost any waste in anticipation of winter.

With an increased likelihood of frosts, all tender plants should be covered before the first frost. Sow green manure, such as winter rye, rather than leaving soil bare over winter.

Consider what you could plant this autumn – garlic and onions do well over winter.

Be careful with feeding to ensure your garlic gets the best start. See this YouTube video for more details.

Cover leafy veg with fine mesh or fleece to protect from the weather and pigeons.

Tidy strawberry plants by weeding, reducing runners and removing dead leaves and tidy your plot in preparation for winter, securing anything that may catch the wind.

Clean tools properly to ensure that you do not spread disease, such as clubroot, across your plot.

Do not compost any leek leaves with rust on them – it will spread disease when you use the compost.

The following websites are full of tips* for gardeners old and new:

Garden Organic - Discover organic growing

Home | Social Farms & Gardens

*Just remember to shorten the growing season by two to three weeks at the beginning and the end to account for early and late frosts in Scotland!

These Top tips have been taken from a variety of sources, including our own MKAA members, and are intended to give you a monthly guide to the activities you may need to consider as you manage your allotment thoughout the year.

Click on a tab to read the Top Tips for that month.