Mid June in the Vegetable Garden - What to sow

Since I've been slow in the vegetable garden this year (which has recently turned from a wet and miserable prospect into a sun kissed paradise) I am very interested in what I can sow or plant right now.

The truth is there is plenty you can do; there are a broad range of crops that are within the optimum sowing dates, but there is also room for experiment with varieties traditionally sown earlier in the year. Let's assume you are presented with a blank vegetable growing canvas in the middle of June with nothing done and you want to look at your options:

Carrots

Yesterday I sowed a load of maincrop carrots, which can be sown until mid summer for most varieties - and even later if you use one of the fast growing types such as Early Nantes. Homegrown carrots have a much better flavour than shop bought, so if you haven't any in yet do have a go now.

Carrots are root crops and need to push their way down into the soil. Therefore a dense clay or stony soil is not ideal, and will likely result in stunted or forked roots. To grow straight, well formed carrots a light sandy soil is preferable. If your soil is a problem, try growing in containers or raised beds.

Spacing for carrots:

• 25 cm between rows
• 4-5 cm between seeds
• sow 1.5 cm deep

Broad Beans

Broad beans are traditionally sown in spring, but if you have missed the boat you can still put them in up until the end of June. Later sowings will be more susceptible to Chocolate spot (a fungal disease of the leaves), but if you have an open airy site with good soil fertility you are likely to avoid it.

Remember, broad beans also add nitrogen to the soil so are a good follow on crop which can act as a green manure - as well as supplying delicious tender beans later in the year.

Parsnips

Parsnips are also usually sown much earlier in the year, but I often sow them in June when I have cleared space from early potatoes and always get a successful harvest. Indeed in some of the colder, wetter parts of the country sowing in June can work out better than sowing earlier. 

Parsnips will germinate quickly and more evenly in the warmer soils of early summer. This can also be an opportunity for a second sowing if the first didn't go so well!

Bulb fennel

Fennel bulbs are delicious roasted with baby carrots - so if you're going to sow some carrot seed you might as well put in some fennel as well. Remember that there are 2 types of fennel, bulb and herb: both of which have a pleasant aniseed taste.

Sowing in modular trays is best for planting out later.

Spacing when planting out:

• 35 cm between plants
• 35cm between rows.

Beetroot

Beetroot can be sown till the end of June for maincrop beets, and even later for baby beets. You can sow direct into the soil but I always find it easier in the long run to sow in modular trays, as you are less likely to suffer a setback from slugs or other critters.

The trick with modular sown beetroot is to thin them out to one seedling per cell as soon as the plants come up (snip them with a scissors rather than pulling them up) - that and don't leave them in the trays for too long.

I find beetroot needs a much lighter and more fertile soil than is usually mentioned in gardening books. For best results plant your seedlings out 3-4 weeks after sowing. An open, free-draining soil containing plenty of well rotted organic matter is best.

Spacing:

• 25cm between rows
• 10 cm between plants

Lettuce

Lettuce is a relatively quick growing crop, with 8-10 weeks between sowing and harvest, so it can be sown through July and into early August. As with beetroot, sowing in modular trays and planting out 4 weeks later is best as plants are particularly vulnerable to slugs.

One thing to remember when sowing lettuce indoors in summer is that high temperatures will prevent seeds from germinating. Lettuce won't germinate over 25 degrees celsius (which is cool for a greenhouse on a sunny day), so move the tray to a cool place until the first shoots appear.