Allotment advice and tips - September - as the fruit ripens and flowers come into full bloom shortening days and early morning frosts could give a foretaste of autumn, I'm with Michael Fish on the Indian summer this year.....

Month by month guide:
Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit.

Vegetables Herbs and Fruit to put on the table this month:
Globe Artichoke
French beans
Runner beans
Beet
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Lettuce
Marrow
Onion
Peas
Radish
Shallot
Spinach beet
Sweetcorn
Tomato


Apple
Apricots
Blackberry
Cherry
Blackcurrants
Damson
Loganberry
Pear
Peach
Plum
Raspberry

What to do in the allotment in September? Apart from harvesting the above.

General Tasks
Clear Away the Remains of Crops That Have Finished.
Order Fruit Bushes
Complete major construction jobs, particularly concreting.
Check the Gutters and Drains Are Free of Leaves and Other Debris
Feed the birds.

Vegetables:
Sow spring lettuce to overwinter with out cloche protection. Artic King or Imperial
Set the plans out in early October, so the seeds quarter of an inch deep in drills 6 inches apart.
Lift maincrop carrots with a fork, cutting off the tops.
Remove split roots to use as soon as possible and store the remains in layers in deep boxes, with half an inch of sand between the layers. Place the boxes in the dry shed.
Marrows which are to be stored for use during the winter should be left on the plants until next month.
To assist the ripening of marrows for storage, rest of fruits individually on platforms of glass or plastic supported by bricks.

Under Glass:
Cloches will afford winter protection are a variety of crops including Lettuces, Spring Cabbages, Broad Beans and Carrots. Protection Will Reduce Losses during Winter and Hasten Maturity in Spring. The Carrots Are Chosen so the Seeds Now on Land That Was Manured the Previous Crop, Drawing the Droll 6 Inches Apart and Half Inch Deep.
"Early market" or "Amsterdam forcing" are recommended varieties. The other crops are sown or planted in October and November.
If you have chicory growing inrows, prepare for blanching by cutting off the tops 1 inch above the roots and drawing the soil from either side to form a 9 inch ridge over plants.
Gather the white growths Chicons which will eventually pushed through the ridges.

Herbs:
Sow parsley and chervil now for a spring crop.
Divide and replant clumps of a bergamot, plant 1 foot apart preferably in a rich loam.
Lavender cuttings taken this month will need the protection of a frame or a cloche

Fruit:
Apples and Pears
Check that storage places are free from mice, and clean trays are ready for the fruit.
In the cool of the day pick the fruit before it has reached full maturity.
Exposed fruit on the tops of trees will mature before that on the sides and inside fruit matures last.
Fruit which is to be stored for a long time should not be too large, should be free from blemishes, and should have its stalk intact. after picking wrap such fruits in paper with special oiled wrapping.
Complete summer pruning of pears and apples. Destroy sack bands which was secured to the trees during the summer.

Cherry
In mid-September sprayed with a copper fungicide against bacterial canker

Peach and Nectarine
After Picking, prune wall trained trees and re-tie new shoots.

Plum and Damson
Pick and use the fruit when it is ripe, as neither plums nor damsons can be stored for long. Pruning the trees as soon as picking is over; protect large wounds with a bitumen paint

Raspberry
Pick September fruiting varieties.

Strawberry
Protect autumn fruiting types against birds and slugs, place cloches in position so that the fruits can be covered when the weather turns cold

More suggestions?

Some suggestions that have been sent in.

Composting: All you need to know

Manure: Some suggested uses

Wormeries: How to create a wormery.

If you have any advice on anything to do with allotments please contribute.