Vegetables

• Plant out remainder of spring brassicas, and draw up a little soil around the stem of sprouts and kale to prevent damage from winter winds. Alternatively, use a single stake or thick cane per stem and tie up.
• Feed asparagus beds then support the top growth.
• Check over autumn planted onions in storage for early signs of rot; they never tend to store as well as maincrops.
• Harvest second early potatoes as required.
• If leeks for winter use have filled the hole they were planted in, consider either drawing up more soil round the barrel/stem or tying corrugated cardboard round each plant. Watch out for leek rust and remove any affected leaves before they spread.
• Keep celery well-watered; As it is a bog plant, it will prevent it from going stringy or bolting.
• Watch out for caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly on your brassica crops as they can strip leaves in a day or two; pick off by hand if there aren’t many or spray with an organic insecticide if you’re a bit squeamish!
• If runner beans have reached the top of their canes, pinch out the growing point to avoid them becoming top heavy and becoming a tangled mess.

Fruit

• Finish all summer pruning on trained apples and pears.
• Prune blackcurrants by removing any branches that have carried fruit this year.
• Reduce side-shoots on red and white currants by two thirds.
• Remove straw from around strawberry plants that have finished fruiting; lightly prick the soil and add a general fertiliser. Prepare new strawberry beds.
• Prune summer fruiting raspberries and tie in new unfruited canes, then treat as for strawberries above.