This is a busy month in the garden, with plenty of crops to harvest as a reward for your care and nurturing in the garden. Whilst harvesting your runner beans and potatoes, it’s also time to think ahead to winter and what to start growing so you have harvests later in the year. Here are my top tips to grow your own veg for July…
Courgettes
Pick courgettes when they are young and tasty, before they become marrows. By harvesting regularly when they are smaller, it will encourage more to grow. Perfect for use in summer dishes and salads, even the flowers can be harvested and eaten raw in salads, fried, or stuffed to make the most of your plants.
‘Defender’
- Harvest from June to October
- Hardy
- Grows up to 1.2m tall
- Moist but well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Sheltered
Potatoes
First early and second early potatoes should be ready to dig up this month, when they’re about the size of a large hen’s egg. With these types, they don’t store well so it’s best to eat them sooner rather than later to enjoy their taste. This is also an ideal time to prepare to plant potatoes so you’re ready for Christmas Day.
Plant them at least 10cm deep, adding more soil on top of the plants as the top continues to grow. Keep the plants well-watered and fed with a general-purpose fertiliser.
Globe artichoke
Next is an architectural plant that has lovely large, grey leaves. Well-suited to the back of a border as well as the vegetable patch the flowerheads taste delicious when cut before they open. Sown from seed in March to April, they are ready to harvest from June to September. Start harvesting artichokes in the second season, removing any that grow in the first year.
- Harvest from June to September
- Hardy
- Grows up to 1m tall
- Moist but well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Sheltered
Runner beans
Easy to grow and delicious to eat, you can start cropping this month and you’ll have supplies through summer. Picking them regularly will prolong the growing season. Runner beans freeze well, so remove any string, slice into short lengths, blanch them in boiling water then drain, cook and place in plastic bags ready to be frozen.
‘Lady Di’
- Harvest from July to October
- Hardy
- Grows up to 1.8m tall
- Moist but well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Sheltered or exposed
Kale
Now is the time to plan ahead for winter crops like kale. ‘Nero di Toscana’ can be sown this month into a bed with well-prepared soil. They can be transplanted to their final growing position when they’ve grown to 15cm tall. The dark leaves are architectural and will look dramatic in the border or veg patch.
‘Nero di Toscana’
- Harvest from September to October
- Hardy
- Grows up to 75cm tall
- Moist but well-drained soil
- Full sun or partial shade
- Exposed or sheltered
Cabbage
Be ready for autumn harvests by sowing seeds for cabbage. ‘Red Drumhead’ is a reliable red cabbage to grow with deep burgundy-purple leaves. Not only does it look striking, but it tastes great as a winter warmer. Sow in pots or seed trays and pot on when seedlings have grown. Transplant to final position when they have reached 15cm, spaced at 45cm apart.
‘Red Drumhead’
- Harvest spring sowings in August or summer sowings in October
- Hardy
- Grows up to 40cm tall
- Moist but well-drained soil
- Full sun
- Exposed or sheltered
With these grow your own tips for growing veg in your garden, you can have harvests in July to add to your summer dishes. It’s also a great time to plan ahead for autumn and winter cropping.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
Leave A Comment