Organic Gardening Magazine

Harvest...

Apples (early varieties), globe artichokes, aubergines, beans (broad, French and runner), blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, broccoli (calabrese), beetroot, cabbage (summer), carrots (earlies and maincrop), cauliflower (summer), celery, chard, cherries, chicory, courgettes, cucumber, garlic, kohlrabi, lettuce, mulberries, onions, pears, peas (maincrop), peppers, plums, potatoes (maincrop), radishes, raspberries, redcurrants, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, summer squash and pumpkins, strawberries, tomatoes, turnips.

TOP TIP: Pears are difficult to judge as to their readiness for picking. Test individual fruits by holding the bulbous end of the fruit in the heel of your hand with your index finger on or near the stalk. Tilt the fruit gently upwards; it will come away easily when ready for picking.

TOP TIP: The fresh kernels of traditional sweetcorn cultivars store carbohydrate as sugar, not starch. Once cut, the sugar changes to starch; so eat sweetcorn as fresh as possible.

• More on this in the magazine

Swap…

If you’ve got a glut of courgettes or tomatoes, then why not contact other gardeners to organise a produce swap in your area? Organise to swap any excess fruit, vegetables and flowers grown in gardens and allotments and exchange them with fellow growers, for the chance to experience some new tastes.

• More on this in the magazine

Help wildlife...

By building a lacewing hotel. Lacewing larvae eat plant-sucking aphids and by early August lacewings are looking for shelter for the cooler months.

Make a hotel using: A large plastic bottle with the base cut off, 100cm (3ft 3in) of corrugated cardboard and a piece each of wire and strong string.

• Roll up the corrugated cardboard so it fits loosely inside the bottle and doesn’t poke out.

• Push the wire through the bottle sides and across the bottom to stop the cardboard falling out; bend the ends round.

• Use the string to hang the hotel up in a tree, shrub, hedge

or against a fence. Near outside lights or lit windows is particularly good.

• More on this in the magazine

Prune your fruit trees…

Carry out essential pruning after fruiting of plums, gages and damsons and cover large wounds with protective paint.
Prune apples and pears that are fan-trained or in cordons or espaliers. Remove the dead wood of fan-trained plums; shorten pinched-back roots and tie in. Continue to prune and tie in summer-fruiting raspberries; cut out old canes. Continue training new canes on blackberries and cut out old canes.

• Much more in the magazine

Want to know more?

This is just a tiny sample from Organic Gardening magazine - which is on sale every month in UK newsagents and also available online post-free.

You can subscribe and save on the cover price and even get free postage! Why not try a single issue?

• BUY A SINGLE COPY (CURRENT OR NEXT ISSUE)
• SUBSCRIBE
• BACK ISSUES! - SEARCH CONTENTS ONLINE

on sale now