August Planting Strategy – Fill Your Garden with Autumn & Winter Crops

 

No Dig Norfolk Gardener

Wondering what to sow in August? In this video, I’ll show you 21 seeds to sow in August for a thriving no-dig vegetable garden, giving you delicious crops well into autumn and winter. If you’re passionate about vegetable gardening, growing your own food, and making your garden productive all year round, this guide is packed with tips to keep your beds full and your harvests plentiful. We’ll cover: ✅ What to sow in August for fast-growing greens and root crops ✅ Succession sowing in August to keep harvests coming ✅ Vegetables to grow in raised beds the no-dig way ✅ How to plan for year-round vegetable growing with autumn and winter sowings ✅ Simple, no-dig techniques for bigger harvests with less effort Whether you’re a beginner gardener, allotment holder, or experienced grower, you’ll find practical advice to make the most of your space this month. By following these what to sow in August tips, you can enjoy homegrown veg well into the colder months and keep your no-dig beds productive all year round.

👍 subscribe for more weekly no dig gardening content! 💚 Subscription Link: https://cutt.ly/ZwBtjntA 💚

7 Vegetables to Sow in Late Summer for Autumn & Winter

 

Charles Dowding 

00:00 Introduction to the seven vegetables 01:17 Sowing collards in module tray with own mix of potting compost 02:23 Turnip, Tokyo Cross - multisowing 03:05 Spinach - multisowing 03:39 Rocket - multisowing 04:33 Broccoli for spring harvests 05:07 Endive - escarole and frizzy, Wallone variety 06:33 Chinese cabbage - two varieties 07:47 Collards, and how to water seeds in trays 10:14 Escarole endive sown in tray - pricking out 11:41 Timing of transplanting 12:06 Collards outside, with mesh against flea beetle - picking outer leaves 14:11 Outro - succession planting

There are many best vegetables to sow at this time of year!

August is a top time to sow spinach, salad rocket, turnips, endives, chicories, broccoli for next spring, collards and Chinese cabbage. I explain these ones in this video. Also you can sow mizuna, pak choi and chard. And herbs such as dill, coriander and parsley. My father, a dairy farmer, used to call August the "second spring". It's when he sowed grass seeds for autumn and the following year. Use all gaps that appear after clearing remains of first harvests. With no dig, you don't need to worry about rotation, because soil is so fertile and healthy.

26 Seeds That Can Be Sown In August

The original article can be found here What to Sow in August: My 25 Favourites - Bite Sized Gardening

Amaranth  – Outdoor – Under Cover

Broad Beans– Outdoor

Carrots – Outdoor – Under Cover

Celtuce – Under Cover

Chicory – Outdoor – Under Cover

Chinese Cabbage – Outdoor – Under Cover

Dwarf beans – Under Cover

Endive – Under Cover

Gai Choi aka Kaichoi – Under Cover

Kale – Outdoor – Under Cover

Kohl Rabi – Outdoor – Under Cover

Lambs Lettuce – Outdoor – Under Cover

Land cress – Outdoor – Under Cover

Lettuce – Outdoor – Under Cover

Japanese Onions – Outdoor

Salad Onions– Outdoor – Under Cover

Mizuna– Outdoor – Under Cover

Oriental Mustards

Pak Choi – Outdoor – Under Cover 

Peas – Outdoor – Under Cover

Radish & Mooli– Outdoor – Under Cover

Spinach (perpetual) – Outdoor – Under Cover

Spring cabbage – Outdoor – Under Cover

Swiss chard – Outdoor – Under Cover

Turnip – Outdoor – Under Cover

Winter purslane, Claytonia or Miner’s lettuce  

She Grows Veg - What To Sow In August

 

With the last full month of summer upon us and the soil still beautifully warm, August is a crucial time to sow the right seeds to keep your veg garden productive well into autumn, winter, and even early spring. In this video, we’re exploring the best veggies, herbs and flowers to sow this month, whether you’re planting in the greenhouse, on a sunny windowsill, or straight into the ground.

Sowing Into Back Garden Allotment Bed 1

 

Patio end of bed 1 and using the 5 Pronged Dibber Tool I placed a row of holes between the hoops to sow Radish Cherry Belle and then another row with verticals off to sow a grid of Golden Eye Beetroots  

5 Pronged Dibber Tool 

I have just bought another 5 Pronged Dibber Tool with the intention of cutting off the 2nd and 4th Dibbers, and turning it into a 3 Pronged Dibber Tool so I can sow at 80mm x 80mm grid easily, I purchased an orange one this time.  

Seeds sorted from the seed boxes and sown

So at the moment I've sown a quarter of Bed 1. I've added a weed membrane layer to the inside of the worm tower lid to stop fly's getting into the worm tower and have placed the salad offcuts from todays lunch in the worm tower. I need to get to Mill Green Allotment and recover some red wigglers.  

  

Dibbs and seed covered with seed sowing compost and watered in. 

View of the end of bed 1 from the patio.

Soil Puncher 12-Hole Seed Spacing Planter

I purchased the Soil Puncher 12-Hole Seed Spacing Planter | Manual Garden Sowing Tool for Even Flower Seeding off ebay in June for the princely price of £2.85

VERSATILE GARDENING TOOL – Ideal for planting a garden, loosening soil, aerating, and transplanting seedlings. Perfect for vegetables, flowers, and herbs like tomatoes, peppers, nasturtiums, and marigolds.
OPTIMIZED PLANT SPACING FOR BIGGER HARVESTS – Creates evenly spaced holes in seed trays or directly in the soil, promoting healthier plants and maximizing your garden’s yield.
DURABLE & EASY TO USE – Made from high-quality, sturdy PP plastic that withstands daily use. The simple press-and-plant design makes it great for beginners and experienced gardeners alike.
ERGONOMIC & COMFORTABLE GRIP – Designed with a smooth, easy-to-hold handle to prevent hand strain, making planting effortless and enjoyable.
 

MULTIPURPOSE & TIME SAVING – Quickly punches multiple holes at once for efficient seed sowing and transplanting, helping you plant more in less time.

Bottom line, it's a Gadget or a Gizmo, a boy toy and I can't resist such things. 

The 12 combes are 20mm apart and the depth is 30mm     

Digging The Dirt

Join Russ talking about his plot and his eye injury whilst pruning! What you can be doing on the plot this month, its not too late to sow seeds… And a run through of upcoming garden shows across the UK.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0w0mfoqZjhlU13OSyGC4fh

ITunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/digging-the-dirt-the-allotment-garden-show/id1487062460

Planning and Reviewing August in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last Thirteen years for August

2013 - Built my first Comfrey Pipe after making it in buckets and experiencing the stench, harvesting spring onions, radishes, Wyevale seeds at 50%, trouble getting a fork in the ground used a pick axe. Central path of paving slabs from front garden went in on Mill Green. Wyevale 50p seed sale

2014 - Growing Marrows for the first time, harvesting, Onions, Spring Onions, Carrots, Wyevale 50p seed sale end of August.  

2015 -  Onion End Rot on Mill Green allotment, harvesting month, Digging up paths for compost bins, First Red Tomato 6th August, Sowing Beetroots, whitlow appeared on my finger just as I got my second plot at Spencer Road.   

2016 - End July / Early Aug end of season gardening sale at Wilko, First and last time trying to grow Celery and butternut squash, Pickling Beetroot, 17th August first ripe tomato, end of season Coir top up for next year.  

2017 -  Harvesting and Pickling Beetroots, Spring Onions in cut down Flower Buckets, SF60 Potato In Buckets Harvested, Self Seeding Pumpkins, Comfrey Pipe Upgrade, Overwintering SF60 Spring Onion Experiment,  Agreed the Drop off and Pick Up area with Redrow and the Council,  August Bank Holiday - Wyevale Seed Sale

2018 -  Harvesting so many tomatoes from the three tomato plants on the allotment. Second beetroot bed planted up first week of August. Finally have the stove in the shed and can make coffee. Harvesting cabbage and cauliflower. Pickling Beetroots. Harvesting cucumbers, courgettes, runner beans.  Built the rear extension to the shed on plot 1 .Drying tomato seeds for seed circles. Harvesting potatoes and tomatoes. Picked up packs of seed from the Wyevale seed sale. Started to review my seed box for 2019.

2019 -  Harvesting spuds cucumbers, runner beans etc.. High winds had to rescue sweetcorn. Runner bean frame collapsed so made good on a temporary basis. Shed repairs & weeding. Make a plug plant extraction tool. Pick up materials for cucumber A Frame. Won Kew Gardens Collection Heavy Duty Bypass Secateurs. Segway Stag Do 

2020 -   Heatwave during the first two weeks of August then heavy rainfall and flooding under Wallington bridge. Due to the pandemic I  had been shielding my wife and had not been on the allotment between March and the end of July. Lots of weed clearing to do. Harvesting Tomatoes at home. Apple acidic compost being made as a glut of apples from home. Infrastructure works on plot 1 continues as only cleared down to the shed on plot 1, Potatoes harvested, Meeting with Adam Brind re the wall behind my sheds, Japanese Knotweed and problem plot holders & Trees Only 6 people on the waiting list. Tomato Seed saving at the end of the month  

2021 - Onions harvested and placed on drying rack. Water butt installed in the plot 1 greenhouse for the Quadgrows. This year we had so much rain that the Grotto Canal in Carshalton was once again flooded and flowing. Picked up the pebble pool off Freecycle with no idea that it would not be until 2023 that I would get it installed and operational. Harvesting sweetcorn, tomatoes and spuds

2022 - Good harvest of spuds and cauliflower before they bolt. Finally after two month of heatwave and drought we got rain mid August. Good Cabbage harvest this year. Harvesting lots of apples and rhubarb, so lots of crumble being made. Sowing and growing Mustard Caliente Green Manure to combat onion white rot . Harvesting Potatoes and tomatoes.  

2023 - Trying to get everything up to date because of the proposed reconstruction of my jaw. I have cut back on sowing new vegetables as my girls will want to come and see me in hospital and not be down the allotment planting out watering and weeding. 

2024 - We started the month off with a months worth of rain in a Day after the heatwave, Bindweed taking over the paths and raspberry area, Harvesting Lazy Housewife French climbing beans, Picked up 10 paving slabs, a couple of Daleks and a load of terracotta pots and a shower chair & vermiculite off Freecycle, New wall clock for the shed, De-banding scaffold boards for the raised beds, installing first raised bed 16, filling with woodchips and then excavated humus from the original framed bed footprint, installing second raised bed 16, installing path between new raised beds 16 installed, Autumn Catalogues start to arrive, Marshalls  .

2025 - Lazy Housewife French Climbing beans and Cucumbers harvested, along with Crimson range of tomatoes. Harvesting Rhubarb .Lots of ripe tomatoes from the crimson range nurtured and harvested. Many paving slabs collected from Freecycle members. Artic Queen Lettuce, Mustard sown and germinated. Dwarf French beans sown and germinated in loo rolls. Onions, on the drying racks taken home by myself and Emma my eldest daughter.   A nice harvest on the last day of August of cucumbers red and all gold raspberries. 

To Do List  

Released from Hospital on the 7th July and now I have leg and foot ulcers, not being able to stand for long and definitely not being able to drive for a while, it could be a good few weeks until I'm able to visit my allotment again. I need to clear the shed and the materials I want to retain on plot 1A as I'm giving it up at the end of September. 

Mill Green - Plot 1

• Greenhouse 1 - Currently being used to house all the cardboard to be used in the new raised beds, The Loft Conversion is failing and needs remedial works.   
• Infrastructure - Convert standard 2.4m x 1.2m beds to 2 number 1.2 x 0.9m Raised beds with a path between for bed
•  Potatoes - All Now Planted in raised Beds thanks to plot neighbour John 

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Greenhouse 1A - Clear so Wally can take it
• Grape Vines - Take cuttings    . 

Back Garden Allotment (BGA) 

• Infrastructure - Beds 1 - 3 Completed and topped up
• Ordered - Winter Red Onions due September  
• Sowing - Complete List     .  

Mill Green August

Week 1              Garlic - begin to harvest

Week 1              Onions - begin to harvest

Week 2              Celery - begin to harvest

Week 2              French Beans- begin to harvest climbing / pole

Week 2              Runner Beans- begin to harvest

Week 3              Senshyu Yellow – Sow in Modules to over winter

Week 3              Calabrese (sometimes called broccoli) - harvest

Week 3              Raspberries (summer fruiting) - prune

Bed 1 topped up

 
Two more flower buckets of topping up mix made and added to bed 1, Photo without the worm tower cap, later this afternoon when beds 1 - 3 were in the shade of the apple trees.  

Bed 1 with the worm tower cap on, Tomorrow I start sowing seeds!  Then it's back into making raised bed frames for beds 4 to 6