Pippa Greenwood’s Tips

Onions and Shallots

Where would any gardener be without onions and shallots, a great crop to grow and a wonderful pair of veg to eat!

A visit to your favourite garden centre at this time of year should reveal a selection of onion and shallot sets for autumn planting, they'll overwinter well (mine even came through the last snow-packed Winter without turning a hair!)

Growing these crops from sets (i.e. miniature bulbs) is so easy, and tends to result in fewer problems with bolting (forming flowerheads) the following year. Try the super tasty Echalotte Griselle shallot, or the extra-hardy yet mild-mannered onion 'Radar', to name but a few.

Growing Garlic

This is a good time to order or buy yourself some garlic for planting in the next few weeks. Garlic is so much hardier than you might think, and if planted in the Autumn, you tend to get heavier crops than from Spring planted...and if like me you're a garlic lover you'll enjoy the fact that it is also ready to harvest a few weeks sooner too. It even thrives after a Winter on my heavy clay soil, but I do make things easier for it by planting the individual cloves in a 15cm tall ridge of soil, that way Winter wet ceases to be a problem.

There are great varieties available such as my favourites 'Albigensian' and 'Early Purple Wight', the latter available from www.pippagreenwood.com until the end of August.

Going on Holiday?

If you're off on holiday, don't forget to ask a friend or neighbour to keep an eye on your crops for you. Watering is likely to be high priority at this time of year, but often harvesting crops is just as important! So many things will cease to perform as they should if they are bearing over-sized crops. Once ready to pick they're sending out strong signals that they've achieved their goal of seed production, and flowering and fruiting will slow up dramatically.

So by rewarding the kind crop-sitter/plant waterer with the opportunity to pick veg, you're both benefiting as the veg are more likely to still be performing well when you get back!

Plan Ahead

Don't forget to think ahead and start planning how to fill the gaps that will be left when your summer crops have all been harvested.

With a little bit of effort you can get crops in the ground now and in the next few weeks that will provide you with gorgeous veg in winter and spring. Think winter cabbage, perhaps some winter cropping lettuce in the space left by the tomatoes in the greenhouse, and then onto early spring harvesting lettuce, sprouting broccoli, cauliflowers and more!

I've just launched the 'grow Your Own with Pippa Greenwood Winter thru' Spring Collection' of vegetable plants for planting in mid September, and they come with free monthly advice emails direct to your inbox.

Visit www.pippagreenwood.com for details.

Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails have been multiplying and doing a lot of damage since the weather became wetter again and even in areas where it has become drier again, the numbers of these horrible pests seems still to be very high. You'll be amazed how many you can collect if you go on an early evening slug and snail hunt....and the pickings will be even greater if it has just rained, or you've been doing the watering!

It is also worth raising developing pumpkins, squash and marrows off the ground slightly so that they are less liable to attack. And after all that slug-hunting, cheer yourself up by treating yourself to some great Autumn planting veg from www.pippagreenwood.com

Courgettes

Courgettes are enjoying the weather but do make sure that you don't lose them to fruit rotting - the petals rot easily when wetted, and the rot then spreads back into the fruit. If you're watering, direct the water straight to the base of the plant so that the flowers are not dampened. If the weather is simply rainy, then regularly remove faded flowers before they start to rot and cause problems for the fruits. Regular harvesting also helps to keep the plants in top condition.