Double Your Harvests: Sow These 5 Crops in July

Summary

This gardening guide offers tips for maximizing summer harvests by sowing seeds of vegetables like kale, peas, beans, endive, carrots, and pak choi. The video demonstrates techniques such as succession sowing, plug tray cultivation, and container gardening, ensuring a continuous supply of fresh produce from late summer into winter. It also addresses common gardening challenges like pests and hot weather, providing practical solutions for a bountiful garden.

Takeaways

• 🌱 Midsummer is an ideal time to start new plants for continuous harvests throughout the year.
• 🥬 Kale, especially the cavalo nero variety, is a great choice for sowing in summer as it prefers cooler autumn weather and has fewer pests.
• 🌿 Succession sowing is a smart gardening technique to maximize space and ensure a continuous supply of crops.
• 🌼 Kale and other brassicas are beneficial for pollinators when allowed to flower in early spring.
• 🌱 Sowing peas and beans in early summer ensures a harvest before the first frosts.
• 🥒 Endive, with its bitter leaves, is a quick-growing salad green that complements softer leaves and is ready to harvest within two months.
• 🥕 Carrots are a must-grow vegetable, and quick-maturing varieties can be sown in summer for a late harvest.
• 🌱 Sowing carrots in containers is a space-saving option, utilizing recycled potting mix from previous crops.
• 🥬 Pak choi, or bok choy, is a delicacy with crisp leaves that can be enjoyed young in salads or cooked when mature.
• 🐌 Slugs are a common pest for pak choi, so sowing in raised beds or plug trays can help protect the seedlings.
• 🌡 Asian greens like pak choi prefer cooler temperatures and may need to be sown later in the season if summers are hot.

Q & A

What is the importance of sowing seeds during midsummer for a gardener?

Sowing seeds during midsummer ensures that the garden continues to produce crops throughout the year, even after the initial harvests, by allowing for second or third crop cycles.

Why is kale a good choice for sowing in the summer?

Kale is a good choice for summer sowing because it prefers cooler temperatures, which will be present in the coming autumn, and it will have fewer pests during that time, also it can grow well into the winter.

What is the gardening technique of succession sowing and how does it benefit the garden?

Succession sowing is a technique where seeds are sown in intervals so that as one crop finishes, another is ready to be planted. This maximizes the use of space and ensures a continuous harvest throughout the season.

What are the two types of kale mentioned in the script and how can they be used in cooking?

The two types of kale mentioned are Red Russian, which has pink/purple stems, and a curly, crinkled type of kale. They can both be used for their young leaves in salads and their mature leaves for cooking.

What is the recommended planting distance for kale in the garden?

Kale should be planted about 16 inches (40 cm) apart in both directions to allow for proper growth and space.

Why is it crucial to sow peas and beans early in the summer season?

Sowing peas and beans early in the summer is important because if sown too late, the pods may not form before the first frosts, which would end the growing season prematurely.

What is the ideal planting depth and spacing for pea seeds?

Pea seeds should be planted about 2 inches (5 cm) apart in rows that are just over a foot (approximately 30 cm) apart, at a similar depth to ensure proper germination and growth.

What are the characteristics of endive leaves and how do they complement other salad greens?

Endive leaves have a slightly bitter taste, which serves as a good counterpoint to the milder flavors of other salad greens like lettuce and spinach.

How soon can endive be harvested after sowing?

Endive can be harvested within about two months after sowing, making it a fast-growing crop for salads.

What is the best way to sow carrots when the summer season is already well underway?

For late summer carrot sowings, it's best to use a quick-growing variety and to sow seeds about a cm or half an inch apart, ensuring a moist and cool environment for germination.

Why is it beneficial to sow carrots in containers?

Sowing carrots in containers is beneficial for those with limited ground space, and it allows for the reuse of old potting mix, as carrots do not require very rich compost.

How can one protect newly sown pak choi from slugs and other pests?

To protect pak choi from slugs, sow the seeds in plug trays to keep them off the ground, and ensure to water them well and provide cool conditions, possibly in a dappled, shady spot.

What is the recommended planting distance for pak choi in the garden?

Pak choi should be planted about 8 inches (20 cm) apart to ensure they have enough space to grow properly.