July’s a busy time in the kitchen garden, with all the summer crops starting to ripen. But there are still some fast-growing plants to sow for this year’s harvest, and it’s also an excellent time to start thinking about your winter vegetables. Here are a few tips on what to sow in the kitchen garden in July.
July’s Kitchen Garden Tips
- This month, sow the last crop of beetroots and carrots for autumn harvests. Quick-growing varieties like carrot ‘Adelaide’ or ‘Amsterdam Forcing’ are ideal for late summer sowing. Carrot flies can be a problem at this time of year, so protect your crop by surrounding the beds with netting. Sow carrot seeds sparsely to reduce the need for thinning, as the scent released when seedlings are pulled up can also attract carrot flies. Carrots and beetroots do best in fertile, light, well-drained soil in full sun and need to be regularly watered.
- In the south of the country, there’s still time to sow French and runner beans in July for a late crop. Water the plants regularly and hoe between them to keep the weeds down. For the best flavour, pick the beans while they are young and tender. Regular harvesting will encourage the plants to keep on producing beans.
- July is an excellent time to sow pak choi, which is less likely to bolt now than if sown before midsummer. Water the plants regularly in dry periods. Pak choi is superb in stir-fries, and the young leaves can be picked for baby leaf salads.
- Keep sowing radishes and salad leaves this month to give you plenty of summer salads. Because radishes grow so quickly, they make a good catch crop, sown in between slower-growing plants. And, don’t worry if some of your radishes bolt in hot weather – the yellow flowers are great for pollinators, and the young seed pods make a tasty snack!
- The July weather should finally be warm enough for you to sow parsley, coriander, and dill outdoors in containers or directly into the soil in a sunny spot. To stop coriander from running to seed, water regularly and remove the flowering stems as they appear. Dill is also less likely to run to seed if watered regularly.
- There’s still time this month to sow chard outdoors to overwinter for a spring harvest. Water regularly in dry periods and cover the plants with fleece over winter to protect them from prolonged frosts.
- Sow spring cabbage now in seed beds or modules in a seed tray. These seedlings can then be planted out in August into soil that has been well enriched with compost, or manure and will be ready to harvest next spring.
Sow vegetables in July for superb late harvests this year, as well as crops for winter and next spring. You’ll find a fantastic range of vegetable seeds in our centre, as well as composts, fertilizers, and everything else you need to give you a great harvest this year. Come and visit us today!
