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Summer is arriving and, all of a sudden, the kitchen garden is coming into its own. I am harvesting masses of salad leaves, broad beans and strawberries, and hopefully the first new potatoes. I can almost see things growing before my eyes, including the weeds, which I make an effort to keep on top of every few days (although I leave self-seeded dark pink poppies and some mauve linaria to encourage insects and add colour). To make the most of a small space, I grow salad leaves in large galvanised metal troughs, making sure that I sow a new crop every few weeks so I have a constant supply through the summer. Salad leaf mixes, including swift-growing, cut-and-come-again lettuce, rocket and mustard leaves, are available from almost any seed company, or at garden centres. Winter salad leaves, including mizuna, are best sown after midsummer, as they tend to run to seed quickly. I grow my salad leaves in the least time-consuming way, scattering the seeds thinly on the surface of the prepared soil or compost, and raking them in gently with a hand rake. Keep them watered and they will germinate within a few days and be ready to harvest in about six weeks. If you want to grow them in your vegetable beds, it is better to sow them in drills, so that the emerging seedlings are easily distinguishable from the weeds.
In season this month
Strawberries are the sweetest crop in June and I am absolutely convinced that the flavour of your own home-grown sun-ripened strawberries is 100 per cent better than any you can buy in the shops. The two varieties I go back to each year are ‘Cambridge Favourite’ and ‘Gariguette’. The latter is a heritage French variety with the most intense flavour of any strawberries I have grown. The only downside is that it is not as prolific as some of the modern varieties. On the other hand, ‘Cambridge Favourite’ still seems to produce masses of fruit whatever the weather. Buy strawberry plants from pomonafruits.co.uk.
