plant it, grow it, eat it
Although it’s too late to sow slow growing crops, there is still time in June to sow lots of vegetable seeds that you will be harvesting in the months to come.
June is a busy month in the garden as you begin to harvest and maintain crops.
As well as sowing new seedlings you will also want to make sure that you are preparing seedlings that will replace crops that are currently giving you produce (this is called succession sowing).
If you want to know what vegetables can be transplanted in June then read this post.
You can continue sowing beetroot through June and a sowing at the beginning of June and again at the end of the month will lengthen your harvest into Autumn.
Beetroot Spacing: plants 10cm (4inch) apart / rows 30cm (12inch)
You can also multisow beetroots in clusters.
The soil is warm enough In June to sow courgettes and squash directly outside although you can still do so in pots to protect from slugs! Pop two seeds in together and if both germinate then pull one up as it’ll need lots of room to grow.
Courgette spacing: 90cm (36inch) (they can trail between other plants like sweetcorn and sunflowers)
Dwarf Courgette spacing: 45cm
Pumpkin spacing: 90cm – 3m apart (depending on variety)
You still have time to sow carrots in June and they should be ready to harvest in September or October.
Carrot Spacing: thin seedlings to be 5cm apart (2 inch) / rows 6 inches apart.
There is still just enough time to direct sow some mangetout, sugarsnap or maincrop peas at the beginning of June and will be ready in 13-16 weeks. Towards the end of the month you can choose faster growing dwarf varieties.
Peas Spacing: sow 2 seeds in each hole/ holes 10cm (4 inches) apart / rows 45cm (18 inches) apart.
Lettuces are difficult to germinate in hot weather so sow in a cool spot to harvest through summer. Choose leaf varieties for cut and come again lettuce or choose a lettuce that grows a heart and is harvested hole (you can still pick just the outside leaves to prolong the harvest).
Leaf Lettuce Spacing: 6cm (6 inches) apart in small clusters of a few plants.
Head Lettuce Spacing: 30cm (12 inches)
Sow new seeds in rows and thin existing seedlings.
Sowing turnips now will give you a crop in late Summer .
Sow more beans now to lengthen your bean crop. June really is the last month for sowing beans and a batch of runner beans sown late June should crop as late as October if the weather is mild.
French Bean Spacing: 15cm (6inch) apart (40cm between rows)
Runner Bean Spacing: 15cm (6inch) apart (60cm between double rows)
Kale and late sprouting broccoli seeds can be sown in June. Depending on the varieties you will be able to harvest later this year or overwinter them for an early crop next year.
You can also sow Calabrese but it is best sown in the ground where it will stay as it won’t like being moved in warm weather.
Kale seeds can be sown closer together if you want small leaves for salads.
Kale Spacing: 75cm (30inch) for tall varieties
Kale For Salads Spacing: 25cm (10inch)
Calabrese Spacing: 30cm (1ft)
Sprouting Brocolli Spacing: 60cm (2ft)
Swiss chard is one of my favourite crops as not only is it great in Summer salads and stir-fries, it will also crop through winter and into the next Spring! Plants add a lovely colour to the garden too with their red, white and yellow edible stalks. Dot them around and plant in small clusters for salad leaves.
Swiss Chard Spacing: 30cm (1ft) for large leaves
Swiss Chard Salads Spacing: 5cm (2inch) for mini-leaves
Sow spring onions thinly in drills for a quick crop.
Sow sweetcorn in a block of at least 12 ideally as this will help with pollunation.
Sweetcorn Spacing: 45cm (18inch)
Sow rows or clusters of radish in June for a quick crop. Radish seedlings are just one of the many edible vegetables seedlings.
Radish Spacing: thin to 1-4inches as you harvest.
You can also print out this handy Garden In June overview below.
In addition to all these seeds you can sow in June there are also many vegetables that can be bought and transplanted in June…take a look at our What Can Be Planted in June Guide.
Amy is on a mission to demonstrate that gardening doesn’t have to be complicated. Her motto is ‘shove it in the soil and see…and usually it works