August 2025

Main image is the Three Strip Trial late July, now full of second plantings.

There are many new sowings you can make now, just don't delay with them. Because growth ahead of us is slowing down all the time.

Every day counts with what you sow and plant now.

Sow now or very soon

The big sowing is SPINACH, Spinacia oleracea, not spinach beet Beta vulgaris, also mistakenly called ‘perpetual spinach’ . It is green beet leaves, tasty when cooked. But true spinach is next level for flavour, and is delicious raw.
Sow before mid month, for cropping until next May. A follower in Tennessee tells me his spinach survives temperatures of 0°F, -18°C.

Chinese cabbage, no later than 10th August and best before 5th, even better this coming weekend!

Florence fennel in the first few days only

Winter radish such as mooli / daikon, by end of the first week

Endive for salads of bitter leaves from mid-September

Kale and chard in first week, for small leaves mostly. They can survive winter

Oriental leaves, salad rocket and land cress, preferably by mid month, for salad in autumn and in mild conditions, through winter in small amounts.

I start everything in the module trays of my design, which work so well to grow small but adequately sized plants for rapid transplanting after only 2 to 3 weeks in summer. Scroll down this page to find more about them and where they are sold, across the world.

Turnips are best multisown under cover, because they suffer less flea beetle than when sown outside. They are for harvests in late autumn.

Finding space to plant

Interplanting helps, as in the photo above. See my 25th July small garden video for details. One interplant I use in August is

• Cucumbers → interplanted fennel. You need to cut off many older cucumber leaves which have mildew and are going yellow. This gives enough space to pop in fennel transplants between 15th and 20th August ideally.

You can transplant in early August, any of the above vegetables which you sow now.

Kohlrabi for bulbs by October and onwards

Leaf beet and chard for leaves from autumn and onwards

Chicory for radicchio

Leeks, from spring sowings, early in August. Leeks grow slowly and the later you transplant, the smaller will be your harvest, so there is some urgency. Varieties such as Musselburgh and Bandit are good to overwinter and harvest next April, by which time they will have grown a worthwhile amount.

Large roots, are they woody?

Woodiness means full of sinews and tough to eat. It does not occur when plants are grown in soil full of health and microbes, and where no synthetic fertiliser is used. The latter depress microbial activity, see this from Rothamsted Researchin the UK.

Beetroot are biennial. In their whole first year, they continue swelling, without trying to grow seed until the following year.

It's growing to seed which causes woodiness. We see it sometimes by late May in early sowings of turnip, and by July in Florence fennel, also kohlrabi, all of which are annual plants.

Tomato plants in August

For tall indeterminate plants, pinch out the tops to prevent new growth and allow all resources to flow into existing fruit. I do this on 10th August under cover, and late July outside.

Bush / determinate plants can be left to grow.

Around 10th August, pinch out the tops of tomatoes undercover. This concentrates plant energy on what is already there, and reduces green tomatoes in October.

For outdoor tomatoes, do this asap if not already.

Picking beef tomatoes

These two photos and also my video, explain how tomatoes ripen so well off the vine. I am asked a lot whether this reduces flavour and I have not noticed it myself, nor have other people eating these tomatoes. It's your choice!

The advantages are freeing up space, being able to drop plant stems, reduced pest damage to ripening tomatoes and more chance for the plants to grow extra fruit.

I pick at breaking stage for beef tomatoes only.

Melons are ripening too.

Maintaining soil fertility and our own health

The two are interlinked.

Mostly for succession plantings, you do not need to spread new compost. There are exceptions, say if your soil is chalky or sandy, holding less moisture. Soils like that need extra organic matter.

With no dig, we are growing soil health, as well as plants.

‍Even more than that we are growing our own health, through transmission of soil microbes from vegetables, into our guts.

The soil and gut biomes are remarkably similar. See this blog I wrote, contributed to Shann Jones on her Chuckling Goat website.

Watering

How much to water and which plants to water is a daily decision, according to their stage of growth and the weather.

In the photo below, we have watered the celeriac only once. But the leeks every week. And the chard on right only twice.

All water on my half acre / 2000 m² comes from one tap, by hand. It’s structured water for best hydration. Get 10% off with NODIG at checkout.

Here's my rainfall log for the year so far:

March: 5 mm

April: 17 mm

May: 20 mm

June: 40 mmJ

July: 49 mm

That’s just one-third of our normal rainfall here in Somerset.

Using and removing covers

Insects are now prevalent on summer brassicas, and especially flea beetles. I never saw so many as in the last two weeks.

They caught me by surprise, because earlier plantings of brassicas had not suffered, such as the Brussels sprouts above. I think my purple sprouting broccoli is partly lost, even though it's under mesh. Flea beetles are so damaging because they eat the tender new leaves. I don’t have a remedy!

Upcoming Events at Homeacres & Beyond

Here are some events I’ll be speaking at or hosting soon:

• Wellness Way Festival Wasing Estate, Berkshire – Sunday 10th August. I’ll be giving a talk as part of this wider celebration 8th - 10th August, of health, nature, and food growing. Enter CHARLESDOWDING15 for 15% off ticket price.
• Homeacres Summer Tour & Lunch here at Homeacres Saturday 23rd August. A guided garden tour followed by a summer lunch with fire-cooked dishes by the amazing Peter Chippy Grant, and Bogdan Theo. Not to be missed!.
• Organic Growers Gathering Hardwick Estate, Oxfordshire – Sunday 24th August. I’ll be speaking here alongside a gathering of experienced organic growers. Part of a three day festival from 22nd August.
• Open Day at Homeacres Somerset – Sat 6th September, 10am–4pm. The big annual open day: full tours, compost insights, greenhouse visit, and book signing. My 2026 Calendar will be on sale
• Two-Day Workshop at Bingenheimer Saatgut, central Germany – Sat 13th and Sunday 14th September. A deep dive into no-dig principles with plenty of practical observation. What an amazing opportunity to learn about no dig, including a visit to the nearby no dig market garden, and then on Sunday to see how this amazing seed company process the seeds for sale.
• Yeo Valley Organic Festival Somerset – Sat 20th September. My talk is on the Germination Stage, sharing core no dig methods and stories. That's a small part of a huge festival, celebrating UK and international gardening, with many top speakers and great demonstrations, over three days from Thursday 18th.

Visiting Homeacres

If you’d like to visit Homeacres and learn in person, do consider joining one of my Day Courses. We go deep into the why and how of no dig, plus compost-making, sowing timings, and layout of a no dig garden. You’ll leave with more confidence and clarity. Full details are on my courses page.

On 20th August is a special course day when I look at energy aspects of gardening. How to grow more for minimal input of time and resources. The evidence for it is right here in the fantastic growth at Homeacres.

‍

‍