Page 48 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2024

June 2024
This month there should be no risk
of frost no matter in which part of
the country you live. This means that you can plant your tender veg crops which are runner beans, French beans, marrows, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, and sweet corn, also dahlias and half-hardy flowers. I wrote in detail last month about planting these plants including preparing the ground and also planting distances so
sown direct in the beds, but I would still prefer to sow salad crops in cell trays and the tender veg and brassicas in pots as I have described before.
If you are sowing brassicas now it is best to choose winter varieties. For cabbages, January King and Tundra are the most widely available and for cauliflowers, Aalsmeer and triumphant. Chinese cabbage can also be sown now of which
please refer to those notes.
Tomatoes can also
be planted outside, if you wish, providing they are hardened off and Chrysanths and gladioli can still be planted if not done before.
Seeds that you sowed earlier in drills may need thinning out when they are large enough to handle
there are many varieties. I mentioned sowing peas in April, and they
can still be sown now but choose an early variety at this time of year because they crop quicker. Suitable varieties are Kelvedon Wonder, Douce Provence and Early Onward which are in the catalogues of most suppliers. I sow mine in small pots, but they can be sown direct.
Courgettes planted
Other crops that can be sown now are rocket, spinach and kale and broad beans if not sown earlier.
So much for sowing and planting so what other jobs should we be doing this month?
I wrote last month about the importance
of watering and shading and ventilating greenhouses and these jobs should
have priority this month as well and also damping down in hot weather which means watering the floor of the greenhouse to create a moist atmosphere.
Seeds that you sowed earlier in drills may need thinning out when they are large enough to handle. Thin them in stages until they are in their final positions for cropping and keep the hoe going between the rows to keep down the weeds.
I also wrote last month
about planting brassicas
(cabbages, cauliflowers,
and Brussel sprouts),
onions and leeks grown from seed, and all these can still be planted. Don’t forget to cover your brassicas with a net to keep the butterflies off.
Root crops such as turnips, swedes, salad onions, kohl rabi, carrots and parsnips are better sown direct than in pots, but I have told you before that I grow stump carrots in buckets and tubs or bore holes in the ground filled with fine compost and long carrots and parsnips in tubes or large drums.
There are two types of chicory, one is to form “chicons” for which you keep the roots in the dark and the other type forms heads similar to lettuce and both can be sown now. For chicons, the most popular variety is Witloof Zoom (Browns and Fothergills) and for salads Rossa di Treviso Precote (Suttons)
Endive can also be sown now. It is similar to lettuce and is grown the same way.
You may have salad crops, lettuce, beetroot and celery from earlier sowings in pots or cell trays ready for planting.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines can still be planted in the greenhouse if not done before.
There are many seeds that can be sown this month but don’t forget what I said before about not sowing too many at once.
I mentioned above about planting tender veg, brassicas and salad crops but if you haven’t sown any of these crops it is not too late to sow some now but, of course, they will be later cropping. They can all be
Dahlia bed planted
Runner beans planted alongside sweet peas
48 Simply Vegetables