It's August, it's autumn and it's now time to start looking at your vegetables and possibly harvesting them. This week 2fm's John Bela Reilly and John Adamson of helpmegarden.ie look into peas, pests and next season's soil.

Peas
If you have peas it is vital that you harvest as many as you can to encourage new growth in the weeks ahead. If you have a large crop you can blanch them and put them in bags in the freezer for later use.   Ensure you are not letting any of your crop go to seed as this will take away from the flavour.  Preventing potato and tomato blight by protecting plants with copper fungicide is vital as discarded potatoes from last year carry disease over and can pose a threat to this year's crops.  We had a slight warning this week so keep your ear out for blight warnings on RTE news broadcasts.

Pests and blight

Pests are also building up with influxes of blackfly into the runner and French Beans, beetroot with cabbage aphid and cabbage butterfly, and moth caterpillars in the brassicas.  Organic sprays and nematodes are ideal solutions.

Maintaining soil

Refrain from walking on soil you wish to grow crops in. Doing so damages the natural structuring of the soil, compressing it, and making it difficult to dig and weed.  Good soil should be teaming with bacteria and worms. Trampling on it will reduce the diversity of life in it and in term, affect fertility levels.  Also, it reduces the amount of air available to the soil.  If you need to cross a patch, use a good plank of wood to distribute your body weight. The soil will compress slightly, but not enough to cause lasting damage.

  There are few things in life as complimentary as a herb garden. This week 2fm's John Bela Reilly and John Adamson of helpmegarden.ie look into chives, mint and sage.

Mint                                                                                                                              

Mint is a vigorous plant and is usually best planted in its own container as it tends to re-root itself everywhere in your garden, so keeping it pot bound is the best solution.  Mint leaves can be taken at anytime during the growing season and can be used in a variety of dishes.  Keep it well-watered as they do not like drought.

Chives                                                                                                                    

Chives are a herb with many uses and should be grown by everyone.  You can pick your chives anytime during the growing season.  But do not pick the flower stalks as they are tough.  Common thyme, place the cut stems of the plants on a flat surface or hang them in bundles in any shady and arid place. Remove the dried leaves from the stems and store them in a sealed container.

Sage                                                                                                                        

Fresh sage is a delicious addition to a wide variety of meals.  It is a member of the enormous mint family and is a versatile and easy-to-grow herb. The leaves are used fresh or dried to flavour a variety of dishes including beef, pork and poultry.  If you prefer the taste of the herb when it is fresh, simply harvest leaves as required.  Wash well and dry with a paper towel before adding to the pot.   Herbs have a stronger flavour once dried, so realize that when harvesting sage for immediate use, you will need to use about twice as you would with dried sage.

Send us an email to allotment@rte.ie for a free monthly, downloadable, printable document with everything you need to know nurture your favourite vegetables from soil to dinner table.  You can also get tips, advice, photos and much more in our regular updates at www.rte.ie/2fm/theallotment

A beautifully sunny June has given way to a more mixed July and we at the 2fm Allotment are now tasting some of the early rewards of our labour.  This week 2fm's John Bela Reilly and John Adamson of helpmegarden.ie look into onions and beetroot.

Onions
Keep watering your onions, unless they start to swell, and remove flower spikes that may appear.  Start harvesting after leaves start to turn pale yellow.  Lift some for cooking, or dry outside for a few days and put into storage.  Store in a dry, well-ventilated area like a shed.  Any that rot should be removed.

Beetroot
There is still time to plant beetroot in your garden up to the end of July. It would be ideal to sow this weekend and again in two weeks for successive harvesting.  They enjoy a sunny spot in fertilised soil.  Speed up germination before sowing by soaking seeds overnight in a little water.  Sow in a one inch deep drill and place two seeds every four inches.  As soon as they germinate you can remove the weaker seedlings allowing the stronger to thrive.  Ensure soil does not dry out and that it is weed free. 

Take care when weeding not to damage the roots of your plant.  After about six weeks give plants a little fertilizer to help their vigour.  You can usually harvest your crop after about 14 weeks.  Remember smaller beetroot are tastier.  Do not allow to grow bigger than the size of a tennis ball.  Beetroots leaves are tasty and versatile and can be used in much the same way as spinach.

John Adamson's of helpmegarden.ie tip of the month 
Encourage worms.  They are fundamental to your soil.  Their casts help promote root growth, their burrows act as drainage and aeration channels - essential for good plant growth.  Their digestion process reduces mineral particles in size, thus making them more accessible to micro organisms.  Entice worms to your soil by mulching and keeping your soil well-watered.  Worms also love greens like grass clippings greens sprinkled on your soil.  Turning your soil too much can kill your worms. 

The 2fm Allotment is continuing to thrive with early planted vegetables now coming to fruition.   One crop you will be taking up soon is early potatoes.  This week 2fm's John Bela Reilly and John Adamson of helpmegarden.ie look at early crops and sowing in July.

Early potatoes will soon be ready for harvest

When you harvest take care to remove all the tubers from the soil. Any tubers left in the ground will not only develop into weeds, but will also act as a magnet for disease and potato blight spores from the previous year.
After harvesting potatoes it is ideal to add organic matter.  Mustard is ideal as it adds nutrients thus adding green manure.   It also controls wireworms which will attack your crop.  French Beans also support much foliage, have good root systems and are great nitrogen providers for future planting.

What you can sow in July?
You can sow many things this month including winter vegetables like Spring Cabbage,  chicory, kohlrabi, carrots, French Beans, peas, beetroot, lettuce, radish, Chinese Cabbage, swedes, turnips, chicory and endive.   So why not allocate space in your garden and get planting?
Cleaning your garden tools
Regularly keep your tools clean.  It's simple and greatly speeds up garden tasks. Blunt tools cost you time and effort, and you are more likely to injure yourself trying to force blunt equipment into the ground. 

Clean tools are effective tools

John Adamson's of helpmegarden.ie tip of the month                                                                                                                    Make a habit of cleaning your tools after use to preserve their longevity.  Also dirty tools spread disease from one area to another.  Similarly, you should always clean your secateurs after use to avoid spreading disease from one plant to another.  Mentholated spirits and a clean cloth are perfect cleaning agents.
Send us an email to allotment@rte.ie for a free monthly, downloadable, printable document with everything you need to know nurture your favourite vegetables from seed to dinner plate.  You can also get tips, advice, photos and much more in our regular updates at www.rte.ie/2fm/theallotment