Labours of love

If you’ve shown your plants enough care and attention, you’ll be reaping the rewards this month, so between sowing late carrots and planting out cabbages, find time to make a tasty tomato tart

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Dixter’s gardener-cook Aaron Bertelsen sows late carrots in a bid to avoid pests, and plants out spring cabbages in empty beds

Assuming you are not on holiday, August is the perfect month to continue the good work you started in July. Keep sowing, and I guarantee you will thank me for it later. This is also the time to order seed, such as Calendula officinalis (pot marigold, a great companion plant for repelling whitefly from tomatoes and luring aphids away from beans) for sowing direct in early autumn, and to replant any rooted runners from your strawberries. Do it now, and they will have time to get established while the weather is still warm.

This is also the peak month for harvesting – another reason why I would find it hard to tear myself away from the garden at this time. The aim should always be to pick produce when it is at its peak. That’s challenge number one. Challenge number two is to do something with all the produce while it’s still in perfect condition. My solution to that is to get it all into the freezer as quickly as possible. I then come back to it later in the year, when there is less to do in the garden and I have more time for cooking and preserving.

What to sow

Carrots always figure on my list of seeds for August sowing. I find that by sowing them now, I can avoid much of the damage caused by carrot fly, the grubs of which will very often make a meal out of roots grown earlier in the season. Even so, I still add a layer of fleece or fine, insect-proof mesh to protect against any flies that might still be hanging around, and the extra shelter also encourages heavier crops. Just make sure that the plants don’t become cramped under the covering as they grow.

As with most root crops, carrots do not like disturbance, so I sow direct, if possible into an area of the garden that has not had too much muck or compost dug into it – or into a pot. I like to use a tall pot, in order to give the roots space to grow and also as another line of defence against carrot flies, which tend to fly close to the ground. Water regularly, and thin out as the plants grow, but beware that the scent released by thinning is another thing that may attract any later generations of carrot fly. The thinnings will make a delicious addition to a salad.

What to plant out

Good greens are at a premium in spring, and spring cabbage is one of the best. Plant out seedlings in August, once other crops have started to go over and have left you with some space in the garden. Spring cabbage will keep growing steadily right through the winter, and put on a spurt as the temperatures rise in early spring, delivering a crop of fresh goodness just when you need it most.

Spring cabbages love to grow in firm soil, so I tend to walk the area where I am going to plant them before they go in, as well as firming the soil well around the individual plants. Allow about 20cm between the seedlings, and water them in. Avoid growing them on the same patch of ground as last year to avoid club root (an infection of the roots of brassicas). I keep mine on a six-year rotation, like my potatoes and tomatoes, but do what your space will allow. Cover the seedlings with netting to see off the cabbage whites; leave it in place all winter and you’ll have protection against the pigeons, too.

You can find Aaron’s recipe for tomato tart at

What to harvest

Although I have access to a greenhouse for growing tomatoes, I still love to grow them outside. There’s nothing like the flavour – or smell – of a tomato that has been kissed directly by the sun. One cultivar that does well even in a lacklustre English summer is ‘Crimson Crush’, which keeps cropping until the first frosts. Water regularly to stop the fruit from splitting, and avoid splashing soil on to the leaves as it is the soil that carries blight. I reduce the risk by stripping off the lower leaves, and pinching out any side shoots between the leaf and the main stem. This helps increase air circulation and lets the sunlight in to ripen the fruit. I have recently found myself competing with badgers for my tomato crop. Companion planting with French marigolds helps, by disguising the scent of the fruit, as does sprinkling coffee grounds around the plants and picking the fruit before it gets too ripe. If all this sounds like too much hard work, I have just two words for you: tomato tart. One taste of this and it will all have been worthwhile.

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