GREAT TO GROW IN SUMMER

Emma Crawforth is a qualified horticulturist, trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and is the gardening editor for BBC Gardeners’ World. Here, she shares more advice on what to grow this month.

Pak choi

This leafy vegetable provides crisp texture and fresh taste to salads and stir-fries. It’s similar in taste to a cross between cabbage and spinach. Sow direct in shallow drills or pots. This is also a good time to plant out young pak choi sown last month.

Spring onions

These can be sown from March to August, followed by successional sowings every few weeks to ensure a continuous crop. Sow direct into shallow drills – spring onions also do well in pots, but they do need a lot of moisture.

Broccoli

Sow And Grow

 Rhubarb is easy to grow, producing masses of stalks each year. Plant rhubarb from October to April, and harvest from March to July. Plant in fertile, free-draining soil with organic matter, such as horse manure, and allow plenty of space around the plant so it can spread out. Despite being a stem, rhubarb is eaten like a fruit, and yields an early crop. By forcing rhubarb in late winter, you can be harvesting stalks as early as March.

 Only the stalks are edible – never eat the leaves, as these are extremely poisonous (you can, however, compost them).

Late sprouting broccoli cultivars and calabrese can be sown in June. Sow direct in well-prepared soil or multi-celled trays to plant out later. You can now also plant out broccoli and calabrese plants sown last month.

Kohlrabi

With a swollen stem, kohlrabi is a brassica that’s eaten like a turnip. It brings a cabbage-like note to dishes, and has a nutty flavour if eaten raw. Sow rows of kohlrabi direct into the soil fortnightly from now until autumn. Thin the plants to around 8cm apart, and water well for a succulent harvest around eight weeks after sowing.

Pumpkins

Early June is your last chance to sow pumpkins, to ensure they have plenty of warm days to develop in size and flavour. Remember to choose your seeds wisely: large pumpkin cultivars are often bred for size alone, so if you’re growing pumpkins to eat, choose one with good flavour. Sow direct into fertile soil or individual pots to plant out later.

● For more seasonal recipe ideas, go to: bbcgoodfoodme.com

SEASONAL DISHES