Grow your own food, week 13 - crops for June and July

Dominic Murphy

22 June 2011

Enjoying the rain? With the rubbish weather we've been having recently, it's tempting to think that summer's already over.

But the gardening season definitely ain't.

So if you fancy a second wind of crops, or you've been a slacker so far, here are some ideas for seeds to sow now. 

Perpetual spinach and Swiss chard: Rainbow chard and Bright Lights are pretty, old-fashioned types, but for taste, go for the green varieties, such as White Silver.

Kale, like chard, is an attractive plant. Red Russian can be grown either as baby leaves or left to mature. Black Tuscan (or if you want to show off 'cavolo nero', pictured), will probably not make mature plants, but can be eaten young in salad.

American land cress is like watercress but grown - you've guessed - on land. And don't forget lettuce. Many varieties are still good to plant now, for mature plants or as cut and come again leaf.

At the beginning of July, the sowing of 'early', or quick-maturing, varieties of beetroot and carrot will give you a crop in autumn.

Popular choices of beetroot include Boltardy and Burpee's Golden.

For carrots, there's the stubby Parmex or Early Nantes, Sytan and Autumn King.

You can also get away with a sowing of quick-maturing dwarf French beans. Suitable varieties include Masterpiece Stringless and Duel.

Now let's hope for warmth and sunshine besides all this rain.

Dominic Murphy, Publishing & New Media Team

Dominic Murphy's book 'The Playground Potting Shed' includes an easy guide to growing food throughout the year. To order a copy for £8.99, please visit our Shop