Dear Member,

July is the height of summer; the bees are busy and with the temperatures we’ve been seeing of late, there has been plenty to keep gardeners occupied. Vegetable plots are full and ready for harvesting, and flowers should be blooming beautifully.

It’s your last chance to sow:

• Beetroot
• Carrots
• French Beans
• Runner Beans

These will give you a late‑season crop.

You can also sow Pak Choi this month — it’s less likely to bolt now than earlier in the summer.

🌿 Quick Crops

• Pea shoots — ready in three weeks, perfect for salads.
• Radish — fast-growing and ready in 3–4 weeks.

🌱 Sow Now for Next Year

July and August are ideal months to sow a few vegetable seeds for a spring harvest, or to sow flower seeds for next year’s display.

🥬 Cabbages

Three varieties can be sown this month:

• Greyhound — sow before the end of July.
• April — sow now until end of August.
• Wheelers Imperial — sow now until end of August.

Hardy cabbages sown now grow slowly through winter, then surge in spring. They’ll be ready from March to July, filling the hungry gap when stored winter produce runs out and early spring crops aren’t yet ready.

🥦 Calabrese

• Stemia F1 — sow now for a March harvest next year.

🍃 Chicory Palla Ross

Bright red, round heads with crisp white ribs — delicious in mixed salads.

Sow now for a spring crop.

🥗 Lettuce

Many lettuces can be sown now for quick cropping.

For winter growing:

• Arctic King — ready around March.
• All the Year Round — also suitable for winter and early spring harvests.

🧅 Onions

Many of you will soon be lifting onions planted last autumn or spring.

But remember: August is the ONLY month to sow Senshyu onion seeds.

🌱 Spring Onions

• White Lisbon Winter Hardy — selected for winter hardiness.

Suitable only for autumn sowing for a spring harvest.

🌸 Pansies

• Winter Flowering Mixed
• Frizzle Sizzle Mixed

Sow now until September for early‑season colour next year.

🌺 Sweet Williams

• Sweet William Auricula Eyed Mixed — sow until the end of July.

Produces large flower heads with distinctive eye colourings.

🏵️ Foxgloves

During August and September, sow:

• Digitalis Purpurea Apricot

A lovely apricot-coloured variety perfect for cottage gardens. Plant in clumps for best effect.

🌼 Wallflowers

Sow by end of July:

• Cloth of Gold — rich yellow flowers for bright spring days.
• Persian Carpet Mixed — apricot, gold, orange, purple, cream and rose shades.

Plenty to think about!

Count down to the Produce Show – now only 55 days to go.

🛒 10% Monthly Offer for July

All Tomato Feeds

Happy Gardening

Mick Goodman

Membership Secretary