June Jobs on the Allotment

General
If you use one, then now is the time to re-install your watering system, as we can expect dry weather from now on.

• June sees the risk of frost pass so if you haven’t already now is the time to plant out tender plants and annuals for stunning summer growth.
• June is a busy month in the gardening calendar with fruit, vegetables, containers and baskets needing regular feeding and watering. 
• First crops are ready for harvesting and you need to keep sowing lettuces and other crops to ensure a season long supply.
• Keep mowing and feeding the allotment paths to make sure it’s looking its best and then sit down, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Vegetables

• Harvest veg as they become ready
• Earth up potatoes to ensure a bumper crop
• Keep fruit and veg well watered
• Liquid feed container and greenhouse crops .
• Continue to sow salads, runner beans, peas, lettuces
• Carefully transplant Brussels sprout seedlings from nursery beds to their final growing place.
• Controlled-release fertilizers applied in March may be running out of effectiveness, so top them up.
• Trim shrubby herbs such as rosemary, mint, and marjoram to encourage fresh growth.
• Pick broad beans while small with the scar between the bean and pod still white.
• Start thinking about putting the asparagus to bed by the end of the month, as it has to become strong enough to give you another great crop next year.
• Wait until new potatoes have finished flowering before digging them up with a fork. This is usually 8-12 weeks after planting.
• Plant out young tomatoes. Pinch out side-shoots and tie the main stem to a cane. When they form their first truss start to use a high potash feed.
• Sweet peas, beloved of all allotment holders, should be tied into their canes once they are advanced enough. Remember to water well in dry weather.
• There is still time to take advantage of the warmer soil and directly sow runner beans. Remember to put up a support system before you get the seeds in the ground.
• Courgettes and pumpkins can be planted out new into heavily composted soil. Irrigate and feed regularly as they are hungry crops, sinking a flower pot besides them in which to pour your water.

Fruit

• Slow down on picking rhubarb to allow crowns to build up strength for next year.
• Net fruit bushes against birds once the crop starts to form, but before it ripens.