Grow your own: July
What to sow, plant and pick in a Rockfield garden or allotment in July. Rockfield sits in a frost-prone valley, so tender crops go out at the end of May, not the start.
Jobs for July
- Harvest regularly — beans and courgettes stop if you don't.
- Feed tomatoes weekly once fruit sets.
- Sow the last carrots, beetroot and spring cabbage.
Sow indoors
On a windowsill, in a greenhouse or under cover
Nothing this month.
Sow outside
Straight into the ground
French beansfrost-tender
Dwarf types need no supports — good for pots.
Carrots
Sow thinly to avoid thinning, which attracts carrot fly.
Beetroot
Sow little and often for tender roots all summer.
Radishes
Ready in about a month — perfect for children to grow.
Lettuce
Sow a short row every fortnight; it bolts in hot, dry spells.
Salad leaves & rocket
Cut-and-come-again: snip leaves and they regrow.
Chard
Very forgiving, and often crops right through a mild winter.
Parsley
Slow to germinate; soaking the seed overnight helps.
Plant out
Seedlings, sets and young plants
Leeks
Drop seedlings into deep dibber holes and fill with water, not soil.
Kale
Pick the lower leaves and it keeps going all winter.
Purple sprouting broccoli
Takes nearly a year, but crops in the hungry gap when little else does.
Strawberries
Tuck straw under the fruit to keep it clean and away from slugs.
Ready to harvest
- Tomatoes
- Chillies & peppers
- Cucumbers
- Courgettes
- Runner beans
- French beans
- Broad beans
- Peas
- Potatoes
- Onions (sets)
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Radishes
- Lettuce
- Salad leaves & rocket
- Chard
- Strawberries
- Rhubarb
- Basil
- Parsley