This Month's Tips

July, 2010

I always think of July as a transition time in the veg plot. It’s when the period of seed-sowing which started back in April generally comes to an end, and the focus shifts towards tending, and more importantly, eating the harvest.

The amazingly warm summer weather we’ve been experiencing has meant super-fast growth on the veg plot. And veg that can be a bit temperamental grown outside in Britain – like tomatoes, chillies and basil, are doing brilliantly.

Interestingly our mange tout peas have been the most prolific crop. By getting seeds sown early they established deep roots before the dry weather arrived, and have now reached a whopping 6ft tall, giving us more peas that we can eat.

Conditions are also ideal for garlic - a cold wet winter, and a scorching summer

It's important to remember that the end of summer doesn't mean the end of the veg growing season. The majority of vegetables will carry on producing food until october when the frosts arrive, and many will keep going right through the winter with no need for protection, to give you a bountiful harvest in the spring.

Make your final sowings of all the key fast growing salad vegetables to harvest later this year. Even if you've got these coming along already, try and sow some more of the following now so you've got fresh plants ready to replace the ones you're about to harvest:

  • Beetroot
  • Carrots
  • Coriander
  • Lettuces
  • Radishes
  • Spring Onions
For tasty vegetables that can cope well with the winter make sure you sow some of these if you haven’t already:
  • Perpetual Spinach
  • Swiss Chard
  • Chicory
  • Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Easy to grow and highly productive perpetual spinach and Swiss chard are great staples on any plot. For chicory, look no further than the Italian variety Rosso di Treviso. Its succulent leaves are packed with flavour, although it does need a frost to take out some of the bitterness. It’s also incredibly winter resistant. In extended periods of snow the leaves will be reduce to a brown pulp. But look again in a few days and you’ll see fresh tender red leaves emerging again - incredible.

Purple-sprouting broccoli’s the tastiest spring vegetable you can get your hands on. It takes a bit of effort to get going, but it's well worth it.

July is also the perfect time to sow oriental salad leaves. Sown earlier in the year they're prone to bolting (running up to flower) and the nibblings of flea beetles which pepper the leaves with tiny holes. Cooler temperatures when they’re reaching maturity from late August onwards will stop plants bolting and see off the last of the flea beetles. My personal favourites are:

  • Mibuna
  • Wild Rocket
  • Mustard Leaves - Green in Snow
These fast-growing - cut and come again - salad crops will give you a big yield during the autumn and happily carry on growing outside through the winter to put on a fresh surge of growth and a new set of leaves in the spring.

Make sure you get some more sowing done now, and enjoy a year round harvest!

Peter

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