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.
如果種蔬菜,尤其是新土豆和蠶豆,你可能會想怎樣利用由于收獲時間造成的差異。只有足夠的時間用來種胡蘿卜,矮生菜豆,甜菜,菠菜,茴香和色拉作物。但是這是最后的機會,因為許多蔬菜在作物生產之前需要10周的無霜期(在許多地方霜降在十月).
如果在土豆之后播種或種植,那么用耙子整理種植的部分,并且好好澆水(或者下雨之后直接播種),因為土豆植物容易使土壤變得極其干燥。選擇近期的胡蘿卜品種如"秋之王"和"愛斯基摩"(都來自薩頓)因為這些品種更耐寒,能后在晚秋時期收獲。或者播種菜豆"快速"(來自薩頓,湯普遜和摩根)這種菜豆其手之內長出豆莢。
大量種植"斯坦利"(來自Dobies)如果現在播種的話也很好。除非再有一次熱浪來襲,直接播種的萵苣應該會發芽的。但是高溫總會推遲萵苣種子發芽,所以要做好失敗的準備。甜菜和菠菜現在也應該好好播種了。但是茴香得冒險。它本該在七月初的時候播種的--所以但愿有印度夏天的天氣吧。