What to do in August

August is usually one of the best months for harvest in the container garden. Courgettes, tomatoes, chillies, runner beans and soft fruit are all ripening and delicious.

Jobs to do in the container garden this month include

1. Tying up and support
2. Tidying up, cutting back
3. Feeding and watering
4. Picking
5. Sowing for winter 

August home grown stir fry: courgettes, runner beans, French beans, tomatoes, kale, spring onions, Vietnamese coriander and mint.

1. Tying up and support

Fruiting crops like tomatoes and squash can get quite top heavy this month as the fruit fills out. If not supported, stems may break or plants may fall over. Use canes, sticks, cages - be as creative as you like - to support your crops. Be particularly sure to check this when heavy rain or strong winds are forecast.

2. Tidying up, cutting back

When growing in a small space, you can often find that some plants will start overshadowing others, particularly at this time of year.  You can remove some of the leaves without harming the plant. (As a general rule of thumb don't remove more than a third of the leaves in one go). You can do this to expose tomatoes to the sun to ripen, to take off leaves that are shading over crops, or simply to remove old, withered leaves. This job is best done on a dry day to minimise the risk of disease.

Flavour ladder in August: as you can see everything is a bit of a jungle... It's a good idea to cut back some plants and move others around to make sure that none are too heavily overshadowed. 

3. Feeding and watering

See July notes.

4. Picking

As a general rule of thumb, the more you pick the more you get. This is particularly true for runner beans (pick them small to encourage more to grow) and courgettes (zucchini).

5. Sowing crops for winter

If your climate is warm enough, (most of the UK is, for example), sowing some things now for winter can be a really good idea because:

• Pots full of winter veg simply look so much better than bare pots.
• Winter crops will help prevent nutrients leaching out of your soil.
• And of course, it's incredibly rewarding to be able to pop outside in winter and pick a salad - and winter grown leaves often taste better, too!

Here are some ideas of what grows well in winter and when to sow it.

Your turn

How are things growing in your container garden this year? What's doing well and not sow well? Anything you are particularly proud of or particularly enjoying eating this year?