If you grow vegetables, especially new potatoes and broad beans, you may be wondering how to use the gaps created by harvesting. There is just enough time to sow carrots, dwarf beans, chard, spinach, Florence fennel and salad crops. But this is the last opportunity because many vegetables need 10 weeks frost-free before they produce a crop (and frosts arrive in October in many parts of the country).
If sowing or planting after potatoes, rake the area and water the ground well (or sow straight after rain) because potato foliage tends to keep the soil extremely dry. Choose later varieties of carrot like 'Autumn King' and 'Eskimo' (both from Suttons) as these varieties are more cold-tolerant and can be harvested in late autumn. Or sow a French bean 'Speedy' (from Suttons and Thompson & Morgan) which produces pods within seven weeks.
The heavily cropping 'Stanley' (from Dobies) also works well if sown now. Lettuces sown straight into the ground should germinate unless we have another heatwave. But hot temperatures always delay the germination of lettuce seeds so be prepared for failure. Chard and spinach should also do well sown now. But Florence fennel is a gamble, it should really have been sown at the start of July – so pray for an Indian summer.
如果种蔬菜,尤其是新土豆和蚕豆,你可能会想怎样利用由于收获时间造成的差异。只有足够的时间用来种胡萝卜,矮生菜豆,甜菜,菠菜,茴香和色拉作物。但是这是最后的机会,因为许多蔬菜在作物生产之前需要10周的无霜期(在许多地方霜降在十月).
如果在土豆之后播种或种植,那么用耙子整理种植的部分,并且好好浇水(或者下雨之后直接播种),因为土豆植物容易使土壤变得极其干燥。选择近期的胡萝卜品种如"秋之王"和"爱斯基摩"(都来自萨顿)因为这些品种更耐寒,能后在晚秋时期收获。或者播种菜豆"快速"(来自萨顿,汤普逊和摩根)这种菜豆其手之内长出豆荚。
大量种植"斯坦利"(来自Dobies)如果现在播种的话也很好。除非再有一次热浪来袭,直接播种的莴苣应该会发芽的。但是高温总会推迟莴苣种子发芽,所以要做好失败的准备。甜菜和菠菜现在也应该好好播种了。但是茴香得冒险。它本该在七月初的时候播种的--所以但愿有印度夏天的天气吧。