Panduan Berkebun Ogos

'Jika minggu pertama bulan Ogos menjadi hangat, musim sejuk akan menjadi putih dan panjang!' kata isteri tua itu tetapi tidak ramai di antara kita akan mengambil berat tentang perkara itu semasa kita berjemur di bawah sinar matahari, semua pemikiran tentang hari-hari sejuk yang semakin gelap yang akan datang dibuang dalam panas. The allotment at this time is a festival of greenery. Peas, runner beans, mange tout, bayam, cucumbers and courgettes should all be at their plentiful and verdant best just now. Potatoes, bawang besar, beet root and tomatoes lend a dash of colour to the glorious green, and berries will start to appear. The temperatures of August mean that a commitment to frequent, if not daily watering must be made to your plants. Rainfall is unpredictable and in any case, plants in containers will gain slight benefit from it. Think of the water as a visible form of love and the task is not so onerous. The birds also, are in need of this attention and they will drink as well as bathe in your love just now. Late August may still be as hot as July but the longer nights are coming. Weeding and hoeing, watering and harvesting are enough this month-take time to fully appreciate August in the allotment.

 

There was a midsummer restlessness abroad—early August with imprudent loves and impulsive crimes.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Wear a Peridot or for thee,

No conjugal fidelity,

The August born without this stone,

`Tis said, must live unloved; alone.

Who, being loved, is poor?

Oscar Wilde

When summer gathers up her robes of glory, and like a dream of beauty glides away.

Sarah Helen Power Whitman