The vegies you can sow and grow in the warmer months

Don’t think all your seed sowing needs to be done in spring, because there’s plenty of growing to do in early summer as well.

You can still sow tender crops such as runner beans and French beans outdoors in the warmer months, while fast-growing salads can be grown successionally, provided you are there to water and pick them young.

What you need to remember about early summer is that your vegie plants will need plenty of water and food, especially during dry spells, when salad crops and other veg can easily bolt (run to seed) if not picked early and watered well.

Here are some of the vegetables you can still be growing during the longer, warmer days, plus some top tips to help things along.

1. Catch crops

There may be plenty of space on your patch after you’ve harvested spring vegies, or while slower-growing edibles aren’t pushing you for space, which you can use to plant fast-growing catch crops such as radishes and salad leaves, to fill the gaps between rows.

Read: How to save seeds from popular vegies

2. Tender types

Vegies that won’t tolerate frost, including French and climbing beans, can now be sown outside.

You’ve left it a bit late to sow tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums and chillies, so buy a few plants at garden centres or your local nursery and plant them in growbags, containers or a sheltered border, in plenty of rich organic matter, and keep them well fed and watered.

Some tomatoes can be planted outside as late as December after sowing inside in November, and will start cropping after another six weeks, according to seed company Burpee (burpeeeurope.com).

Sweetcorn can still be sown outside if the soil temperature is above 10°C, or buy a few plants to get you started. Grow plants in blocks 45cm apart rather than rows, as this crop is wind-pollinated.

3. Quick crops

If you love hot and peppery additions to your salads, sow radishes successionally up to late summer. Some varieties will be ready to harvest in three to four weeks.

Sow thinly in rows and thin the seedlings to 2.5cm (1in) apart, keeping them well watered and the area well weeded, and pick them when you need them. But don’t leave them too long or they will become tough and woody.

Read: Keys to growing enough vegies to feed yourself

Salad leaves, including rocket and cut-and-come-again varieties, are ideal to sow successionally every two or three weeks, to pick young as you need them. When you’ve finished harvesting a row, just weed the area, add some fertiliser and plant more in the same place. Spinach and baby vegetables can be grown in the same way.

4. Regular favourites

Carrot seeds can be sown from January to May in Australia, when soil temperatures range between 8 and 30°C.

Beetroot can be grown in most parts of Australia. They prefer cool to warm conditions. In warm areas, plant seeds and seedlings all year round as long it’s not wet. In temperate regions, plant seeds and seedlings from July to March and in cooler regions, plant from September to February.

Read: Vegetable gardening the zero waste way

5. Planning ahead

Cabbage loves cool conditions, so grows best over autumn, winter and early spring. In cool climates, it’s possible to grow cabbage year-round. Varieties such as ‘Sugarloaf’ and ‘Red Drumhead’ are more tolerant of heat, so are ideal for growing in warmer areas.

Are you growing anything this summer? Share your most successful crop in the comments section below. 

– With PA