There is no denying autumn, though August is a sultry month. Gardening now needs planning, even guile. It is also the time of plenty, so it’s easy to get lost in bounty.
It’s the month of beans, the almost miraculous return on investment when 20 seeds sown becomes 100 pods. Pick them before they become too big. Search out good recipes. My favourite - besides simply steamed – is a green bean and anchovy salad (fast-boiled beans with a mustardy anchovy dressing, served cooled, with more anchovies and finely chopped shallot).
Deadhead any seed you don’t need and keep cutting sweet peas to encourage more flowers. Pick peas, maybe the best-tasting of the fresh gardening perks. Crop courgettes almost daily, unless you love marrows.
There is still time to sow. Chervil and parsley, spring onions, fast-growing salads, perhaps an autumn mix (I like Brown Envelope Seeds); Oriental leaves, such as pak choi, tatsoi, komatsuna, mizuna and Japanese mustards, are also often to be found together, sold as ‘Oriental saladini’. Remember to repeat radishes. Be ruthless about making space.
Spinach and spring cabbages should be sown now. It is likely your last chance for carrots and turnips (a new favourite thing). Franchi has seed for these and for chicories, also good now.
Keep an eye on corn silks. Be ready when they change colour and eat the cobs immediately. Lift onions, garlic, and shallots. Lay them out in the sun or on racks. Tie up heavy tomatoes if necessary. I use sticks, some favour string.
Remember to weed and feed and water, and set up a holiday cover system with neighbours. It is the last month of summer gardening in its pomp. Try to take time out to download memories.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.49 from guardianbookshop.com
