This post is a part of a series about the things I usually do/sow/harvest in my garden in a given month. I post at the beginning of each month and at the end of each month I check in to let you know how the month went in our garden(s). I am gardening in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in a cool temperate climate, roughly zone 7. Your sowing times might be somewhat different depending on your local climate.
June to do list
Sowing outside:
fennel, beets, beans, late carrots, zucchini, winter squash, sweet corn, edamame soya, endivie
Sowing in a nurserybed (to transplant later):
Bladkool, Chinese kool, tatsoi, pak choy, broccoli
Planting out:
Peppers, egg plant, basil, sweet corn, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
Harvesting:
Asparagus, baby beets, broad beans, peas, sugar snaps, snow peas, radishes, lettuce, kohlrabi, spinach, young turnips, first carrots, rhubarb, strawberries, currents, raspberries
Jobs:
Thin out seedlings
Weed and mulch
Support tomatoes and remove side shoots
Water if there is no rain
Remove broad bean tops (they are edible) to prevent blackfly attacks
Protect brassicas with horticultural fleece
June is the beginning of serious abundance in the garden. Finally it’s more than just baby leaves and radishes for salad – the harvests are more substantial and there is even some fresh homegrown fruit again.
The important thing is to remember that you want to have something to eat in the fall and winter too and to continue sowing. Sow little and often, is the motto. Because it can be difficult to find a free spot in the garden, I still presow many of the vegetables for planting out later, either in a nursery bed or in pots at home. Setting out plants instead if sowing directly means the garden bed can be used more efficiently. For example kale, when presown, is best planted out when about 5 weeks old – that means that up till then the bed can be used for another vegetable. When planting a second crop, it is good to keep crop rotation in mind and not follow with plants from the same plant family, e.g. Kale after radishes or beans after peas. Sometimes, however, rules need to be bend and if you keep your soil in good condition and don’t bend them too often, nothing disastrous will happen.
Some vegetables are sensitive to day length and tend to bolt prematurely if sown before the longest day, most notably Oriental brassicas such as chinese (napa) cabbage or pak choy. I sometimes sow them early to harvest as cut-and-come-again seedlings, but if I want full-sized plants, I wait till the end of June.
Happy gardening!
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