What to sow & do in a June kitchen garden

Here’s my big guide to what to sow & do in a June kitchen garden, or on the allotment. It’s a busy month!

By the way, even if you haven’t done anything to get a kitchen garden started yet this year, you can start from scratch in June. You still have time to get so many different seeds* sown.

You can sow them directly into the soil. The ground’s warmed up now so growth will be quicker, and almost all kinds of plants stand a very good chance of catching up with earlier sowings.

[* The exceptions are chillies, sweet peppers, tomatoes and the slower growing pumpkins – you’ll need to ask around for young plants among your gardening friends or buy them in as established seedlings from a garden centre now or you won’t get a crop]

My June kitchen garden diary

The growing space here has been a bit under the weather, as it’s been quite overcast and we’ve had many colder evenings than usual for the time of year. I’m keeping the cloches over the courgette plants for a little longer, just to give them a better start.

The mini pumpkin seedling has somehow survived the cold and slugs so far, very much against the odds. I’m hoping it gets a growth spurt on soon and starts climbing up the trellis because they look so sculptural even before the pumpkins start forming.

The Lizzano tomato plants are the strongest out of all the tomato varieties so far, and the Marketmore outdoor cucumbers already have a few tiny fruits growing on them (see pic above), so I think we’ll be okay for salads.

The only genuine fails so far have been dwarf French beans and spring onions that didn’t germinate, so I treated the garden to some fresh seeds from Wilko. Fingers crossed they’ll be romping away by my next update.

What to sow in June (all outdoors)

It’s a great month for sowing all kinds of different seeds, and doing a few sequential sowings to keep your favourites going for longer.

Some of my favourite places to get seeds and small plants include:

• Dobies – great seed catalogue from long-established company
• Marshalls Garden – good variety of seedlings and plants
• RHS – good for ‘Garden Merit’ tried and tested varieties
• Suttons – lots of 99p seeds and handy advice for beginners
• Thompson & Morgan – all kinds of seeds, strawberry plants, fruit bushes etc
• Wilko – the bargain seeds are back, plus lots of multi-buy offers

Now the risk of frost has passed, all the following seeds can be sown outdoors. The more heat-loving plants may benefit from some protection with a cloche, or from being sown in a sheltered, sunny spot.

• Beetroot
• Broccoli & calabrese
• Carrots
• Chard and leaf beet / perpetual spinach
• Chicory
• Courgettes and summer squash
• Cucumbers (outdoor types, last chance)
• Fennel (Florence / vegetable)
• French and runner beans
• Kale
• Kohl rabi
• Lettuce and other salad leaves
• Oriental greens (pak choi, choi sum etc)
• Peas
• Radishes
• Rocket
• Soft herbs (last chance for outdoor sowings)
• Spinach (‘short day’ types only)
• Spring onions
• Swedes
• Sweetcorn (last chance)
• Turnips
• Winter squash and pumpkins (fast-growing types only)

As always, check the seed packets carefully as some varieties have slightly different growing seasons and other requirements.

Garden jobs to do in June

There are a few other garden jobs to do in June to make your kitchen garden more productive, starting with planting out some more seedlings.

1. Planting out in a June kitchen garden

Still lots of seedlings to plant, especially at the start of the month.

• Brassica seedlings: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale.
• Sun-loving plants: aubergines, sweet peppers, chillies, tomatillos, outdoor tomatoes.
• Cucurbit seedlings: courgette, cucumber, pumpkin, summer & winter squash.
• Others: beans, celeriac, celery, leeks, sweetcorn.

Your sun loving plants will do best in a warm, sheltered spot. Alternatively, most grow well in pots, so you can move them around to get more sun or keep them on a bright patio.

2. Care of vegetables in June

Help those new-ish seedlings to become stronger now for better crops later, and look after those perennial plants too to prolong their lifespans.

• Feed aubergines, chillies, sweet peppers and tomatoes regularly with potassium / potash rich food once they start forming fruit.
• Pinch out side shoots of vine tomatoes (the tall cordon / indeterminate types, but NOT the bushy ones).
• Pinch out broad bean plant tops to reduce blackfly (you can cook & eat these leaves).
• Prune woody herbs after their flowers have died back.
• Stop harvesting asparagus at the end of this month.
• Tie in climbing peas and beans.

3. Care of fruit in June

If you have established fruit trees, bushes, canes and other plants, you might be able to start picking some fruits this month, such as strawberries.

• Pick all ripe fruit regularly.
• Net fruit carefully against birds.
• Feed flowering and fruiting plants occasionally with a little potassium-rich feed.
• Protect strawberries from dirt and slugs.
• Remove unwanted strawberry runners, peg down & propagate the rest.
• Collect rainwater to water blueberry bushes (they prefer it to more alkaline tap water).
• Pinch out fig tree shoot tips.
• Put up moth traps if needed.
• Stop harvesting rhubarb at the end of this month.
• Thin out apple, pear and other tree fruitlets if necessary.
• Tie in summer-fruiting raspberry canes, blackberry canes and selected shoots of any wall-trained fruit trees.

4. Other garden jobs in June

• Apply mulch around plants for moisture retention.

5. Allotment jobs to keep on top of in June

• Checking for pests and diseases
• Controlling slugs and snails
• Earthing up potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes
• Tying in growing plants
• Ventilating greenhouses and cloches
• Watering plants regularly
• Weeding

Enjoying this article? You may also like:

• What to sow & do in a May kitchen garden
• British seasonal food in June (what to pick this month)

If you have a kitchen garden or allotment, what are you thinking about sowing this month?

Will it be old June kitchen garden favourites, or something new?