Easy seeds to sow now
Refresh your veg patch by sowing or planting into gaps now and you’ll be picking within weeks. Getting things in early August yields far more than starting later in the month. Cover with cloches during the worst of the weather.
1 ORIENTAL VEG Sow direct into the ground in spaces where summer crops have been harvested to produce a quick-growing crop for salads, stir-fries and Asian cooking. Try the hardy komatsuna (mustard spinach), pak choi, mibuna, mizuna and Chinese cabbage for a late-summer crop. Keep well watered. Pak choi
2 TURNIP Enjoy this crop in a matter of weeks by sowing seed thinly, 1cm deep, 15cm apart, into soil enriched with well-rotted manure or compost. Keep watered. Go for ‘Purple Top Milan’ or ‘Snowball’ to harvest as baby turnips or roast.
3 RADICCHIO
Pick leaves from the outside as cut-and-come-again in winter. Look for Radicchio ‘Palla Rossa’ and ’Rossa di Treviso’. Sow into module trays. Transplant seedlings to 30cm apart in partial shade.
4 SPRING CABBAGE
Try ‘Durham Early’ or ‘Winter Jewel’. Start them off in module trays or sow direct in rows 2cm deep. If buying young plugs, plant 30cm apart. Net the plants to prevent white caterpillars.