The garden is finally starting to look a bit fuller. All that effort earlier in the season is really paying off. This is an incredible moment in the gardening year, I just love it. But the show’s not over yet because now’s the time to make even more sowings to keep the harvest coming for longer. And goodness me, have I got some absolute beauts for you today! Brilliant brassicas, including this weird wonder – any idea what it is? Carrots that’ll keep you crunching through winter, a trio of truly tremendous leafy herbs, and if that’s not enough, a vegetable that’s as eyelid-flutteringly gorgeous as it is tasty. You’ll see.
Summer broccoli, or calabrese, is one of the real joys of the summer garden. Here’s mine planted a few weeks ago, and they’re beginning to take off now. But to keep the party going into winter and beyond, we need to sow some sprouting broccoli. This winter-hardy favorite is absolutely delicious lightly steamed; it really is a royalty amongst veggies. This is one brassica it’s well worth starting away from where it’s going to be grown. That way, you can overlap crops, so while the previous crop is still in the ground, this one can be starting off already. This way, you can overlap crops by as much as two months. That’s super savvy space saving.
The plan is to have the sprouting broccoli go in where my fava or broad beans are currently, making this a really A-rated succession crop. Enough of the chat, let’s get on and sow. I’m just sowing into this all-purpose potting mix here and making little depressions ready for the seeds. Now I’m going to sow just two to three seeds per plug here, and then I will thin them out to leave just one seedling in each once they are all up. A little more mix just to cover the seeds over before finishing off with a label so we don’t forget what we’ve got here. As I said, we’ll eventually have just one seedling in here, and once we can see the roots coming out to the bottom, that’s usually a good sign that they are ready to plant.
However, timings don’t always work out perfectly. There might be a bit of cooler weather that holds back the crop I’m wanting to get out so this can go in, in which case, no dramas. I can just pot it on into a container this kind of size or something like this to grow on until the ground is ready. No seasons are the same, and this gives that little bit of flexibility. Then once they are good to go out, I will space them about 16 inches or 40 cm apart in each direction, and I should be harvesting those first sublime spears in early spring.
So, what on earth is this? Well, I’ll stop the article here for a few seconds to give you a moment to think about it, and please don’t be shy to shout it out if you know. Well done to you if you said kohlrabi. This rather, let’s face it, obscure member of the brassica family comes from the German for cabbage, *kohl*, and turnip, *rübe*. In fact, most of the brassicas that we know and love are, in fact, the same species just bred for different characteristics: kohlrabi for its swollen stem, cabbage for an enormous terminal bud, brussel sprouts for enlarged side buds, kale for bigger, better leaves, and broccoli and cauliflower for enlarged flower buds. They all cross with each other. It’s just remarkable; that never fails to blow my mind.
Like all brassicas, kohlrabi is a cool-season crop. So if you get quite warm summers, early in the month might be your last chance to sow it, but you can always pick things up again in the autumn. Now, they can be sown into pots and then the seedlings carefully transferred into their own plugs, but seeing as I’ve got space here, I’m just going to sow them in exactly the same way as my sprouting broccoli next to them here to fill up the rest of the tray. So, it’s a few seeds per plug, and again, I will thin them out if I get more than one seedling to leave just one in each plug, and then again, just lightly cover them over. Give them a bit of a water to start them off.
Now, in this lovely warm weather, I reckon this broccoli and kohlrabi will be up within as little time as a week. Just like the broccoli, I might pot on the kohlrabi if the ground isn’t yet available, and they will eventually go out about 10 inches or 25 cm apart in both directions. Both my broccoli and kohlrabi will need protecting from those pesky pigeons and butterflies using netting, but certainly, in the case of our alien-looking kohlrabi, it won’t be long before I’m tucking into beautiful shaven stems in a salad or perhaps kohlrabi fries or chips.
Root vegetables like beetroot, carrot, rutabaga, or swede are mainstays of the winter larder. Now, all this talk of winter almost feels a little bit taboo when summer’s barely got started, but if you can bear it, it’s worth looking ahead because now’s the time to sow roots to enjoy over the winter. Carrots suitable for overwintering or lifting to store are usually the biggest varieties of all. Look out for a main crop variety described as good for storage. Here are some popular ones, and sow them into good loose soil because these roots can develop into whoppers.
Carrots are best sown direct, and because it’s now summer and that much warmer, I’m watering along the rows first to get the water exactly where it’s needed around the seeds. Now, this also means that I’m only wetting the rows themselves and not the soil around it, which will help to avoid weeds. This, of course, works better in drier weather, which it is now. Okay, let’s get on and sow. Like so many of our seeds, I’m taking a small pinch and then scattering them nice and thinly here because, eventually, we want them up to about an inch apart, so we don’t really want to sow too thickly. You see, half a pinch has done it, so I’ll put the rest back for now and then just cover them back over like that.
Now, I won’t actually water along here again for a few days because they’ve got that moisture around them already. But of course, if it is much warmer and much drier, then I will keep this well-watered because we want to keep it consistently moist around the seeds so we get good even germination. These main crop carrots will need to be thinned if most of them do pop out, and I will thin, as I said, to about an inch or possibly up to two (that’s 5 cm) apart just by pulling out the little plantlets to leave them at their final spacing. Then, once I’ve done that, I’ll give the whole area a good water to knock back the carroty scent and avoid attracting the local carrot fly.
Leafy herbs bring so much to the kitchen table, don’t they? I’ve got three rubber-stamped, must-grows ideal for sowing at the start of summer. First up is dill. Now, dill is a fantastic annual herb for sowing directly where it’s needed. It’s a fast grower, and it’s ideal for making pickles of all sorts of sizes and shapes, and its lovely feathery foliage really turns heads too. If you let it flower, it’ll really attract beneficial bugs. Dill is also a fantastic companion plant to so many of our other vegetables that we grow, including tomatoes, so I figured I may as well plant them next to these recently planted toms. Now, I’ve just lightly fluffed up the soil here to receive the seeds, and then I’m taking the slightest pinch like that and then just scattering them over the lightly forked soil here. We’ll get a nice little ribbon of dill here, and then just fork it back in and then to finish, a little bit of water.
Now, these seedlings pop up really fast, so I reckon I should get my first harvest within as little as two months, perfect for perking up poultry or adding a little finesse to fish. Well, what next? Parsley, of course. I love growing this from supermarket herbs, which I just split apart, pot on, grow on, and then plant out like this little lot here. Just like dill, this will attract the beneficial bugs if you let it flower in its second year, and this lot are about to go into flower. In the meantime, however, you’ll get to enjoy lots of lovely leaves. This time, I’m sowing a flat-leaf type of parsley. It’s quicker growing, and I reckon is more versatile in the kitchen.
Now, dill likes good sunshine, but parsley can cope with sort of dappled shade like we’ve got in this bed here. So, I’m sowing them about a cm or half an inch deep, and then it’s the same old format: a scant pinch of seeds nice and thinly along the row like this, and then just sort of pinch close the row. Now, these guys can take a while to germinate, up to six weeks, in fact, so it’s going to be important to keep this area nicely watered. Once the seedlings have popped up, I will thin them to leave about 6 inches or 15 cm between each, though I may take some of the excess seedlings and plant them elsewhere.
Later in the month, our third herb, also known as coriander, should be planted. It is by all accounts level leaf parsley. Might you anytime separate? Cilantro can thrive in the shade and may even prefer it if you live in a hotter area. This shallow container that only contains general-purpose potting mix will be used to plant it today. Since they do very well with the more limited long stretches of sunshine, I like to establish cilantro or coriander after the mid year solstice. They do not bolt or bloom too quickly. Moreover, examining the days drawing in again is a truly horrendous thought at this early season. Notwithstanding, I have filled my pot, and this time I will space the seeds intently, about an inch or two centimeters separated, so they become practically like microgreens and can be collected early. I’m about to space the seeds out, spread them out pleasant and uniformly, and afterward cover them all with just enough piece more manure.
The key to success with these is keeping them adequately moist. I will move them into the shade to continue growing in the event that it gets really hot, which it can do here, and I will water them all around. Due to the fact that I harvest them when they are still quite young and tender, similar to baby leaves, I anticipate receiving my first cut within approximately six weeks.
Some vegetables are downright tricky, including this picky princess here, bulb fennel or florence fennel. Now, I find this often bolts before it’s had a chance to properly bulb out, but not this time. I say bulbs, but what we’ve, in fact, got here is another case of swollen stems with a texture a bit like celery and a gentle aniseed flavor. This delicate and dainty darling is worth persisting with. It’s great served with fish or shaved with the mandolin to serve over a salad, my absolute favorite way to enjoy it. What I’ve gone for is a really fast-growing variety, which I think should be a lot less likely to bolt as well, especially if I keep it well-watered. So, by delaying sowing till it’s kind of t-shirt weather as well, then I think this will be a lot less likely to bolt.
I’m doing exactly the same thing. I’ve got my sifted or sieved compost, and this time again, two seeds into each. Now, I could sow into a nursery pot and then transfer the seedlings into plug trays, but these guys really hate root disturbance, so I think this is one that’s definitely best to sow direct into the plug trays. Of course, you could sow it in the ground where it’s to grow and then thin them out, but again, I’m wanting to overlap my crops by starting this off while the ground it will go in is currently occupied. So, I’ve got my two seeds into each plug there. I will thin them to leave just one in each by snipping off the excess seedling, and then let’s just cover them over with more of this potting mix here. That should do it. I’m going to give these a good drink and, of course, label them and set them on their way.
Once they are up, I will plant these divas with filigreed leaves 6 to 8 inches, or 15 to 20 centimeters, apart in both directions. To help them in shaping those wonderful bulbs — or rather enlarged stems, assuming that you understand what I’m alluding to — they will be relocated to a radiant, warm area in very much depleted soil that has been improved with the standard stroke of manure. Have a good time cultivating! Happy Gardening.
