Our Top Allotment Jobs For July

Welcome to our blog series on allotment gardening! In this edition, we're excited to share our top allotment jobs for the month of July. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this guide will provide you with our most important tasks to make the most of your allotment this summer. So, put on your gardening gloves and let's dive into the top allotment jobs for July!

What To Sow And Grow In July

The time left to sow from seed and planting is rapidly running out, you should still be able to plant salad leaves as well as some quick-growing pea varieties though. As you harvest the last of some varieties this month you might find some space for the last planting out of cabbages, brussels and cauliflowers still in pots. July is a good opportunity to plant leafy green vegetables such as kale, chop suey and Chinese broccoli, they can last well into Autumn.

What To Harvest In July

The joy of July on the plot is being able to spend hours toiling away in the hot days and light evenings and also returning home with fresh produce daily. You should be able to harvest bountiful amounts of fruit this month, with strawberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries and plums to make sweet summer puddings. On the vegetable side of things, you can expect to harvest courgettes, peas, onions, aubergines, shallots, carrots and French beans.

Top tip – monitor courgettes closely, they can double in size each day! Harvest them regularly!

Edible Flowers To Be On The Lookout For In July

July is a fabulous month for collecting edible flowers, there will likely be many more than you think readily available from your garden and plot. We love the bright colours that perk up salads and cocktails over the summer months. Our favourites are below but you can find out more from the RHS here.

- Viola
- Courgette Flowers
- French Marigold
- Lavender

Plot Maintenance In July

The watering and irrigation of your plot is key during July, our Summers are increasingly hot and dry, and ensuring an adequate supply of water on the plot will help prevent bolting on some vegetables. You can also spread mulch across soil after rainfall or watering to help conserve moisture and keep it damp. The best time to water is early in the day or later in the day, a good soaking is more effective than a light sprinkle in the mid-day heat, getting water right down to the roots is essential.

Keep up the feeding of tomatoes and peppers during July with liquid feed, you should start as soon as the first fruits have appeared.

Your summer fruiting strawberries deserve some attention this month. Once the fruits have finished you should cut back and tidy up the leaves as well as clear and straw and hay that was laid in earlier weeks. This is also your opportunity to propagate and pot up new runners that have developed which is a much more reliable way to continue your crop, strawberries are notoriously hard to grow from seed.

July is a busy month in the allotment garden, offering plenty of rewarding tasks to keep you active and connected to your plot. By following our top allotment jobs for July, you'll ensure ongoing growth as well as a great harvest of your crops and a thriving garden throughout the summer. Stay tuned for more allotment gardening tips and insights in our upcoming blog posts. Happy gardening!

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