Now that summer is well under way you've probably been harvesting lots of tasty things, and you may have some beds of spent crops (e.g. bolted salads) which you would like to fill with more veg and get a second crop from this season.

You can find a list of things to sow in July by clicking the button below.

Carry on reading for some more detailed advice on some of our favourite corps to sow at this time of year.

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• ​Dwarf French beans - You can do a last sowing of dwarf French beans in July. You'll get a crop at the end of the summer / early autumn
• ​Asian greens - Asian greens such as mizuna and pak choy are 'day length sensitive' plants and will run to seed fast if sown in May or early June. After the summer solstice (21 June) the days start to get shorter which means you can start sowing these seeds again. They do need to be kept well watered in the heat to stop them bolting though. We would recommend doing a small sowing of these in July and then a main sowing in early August
• ​Kale - you can do a late sowing of kale in July, the plants will not reach their maximum size before winter but they will produce a good crop anyway, and you can plant them closer than you usually would. Even if they enter winter on the small side, they will put on a lot extra growth in the spring when the weather warms up. N.B. if you sow Cavolo Nero kale now you should eat it before Christmas as it will flower in January.
• ​Fennel - bulb fennel can be sown in July for a late summer harvest. Be sure to keep the plants well watered in the heat though, they will appreciate some shade too.
• ​Carrots and beetroot will both do fine if sown early July (any later and they will not make big enough roots before the winter). As they both prefer to be direct-sown, its really important to keep the soil moist after sowing until the seeds germinate as it will quickly dry out in the heat of the summer. If you dont do this you will likely get very patchy germination. TOP TIP - mix a few fast-germinating seeds (e.g. radish) with your carrots and beets so you can see where your rows are easily and weed them early on.
• ​Chicory - non-forcing types (both of our varieties) work well from a July sowing. They should make nice heads by the autumn. Chicories tend to be genetically diverse so you may see a lot of variation in your plants, dont worry about this! On the continent chicory is a very popular veg, and its starting to take off in the UK too, it is much loved by chefs due to its interesting flavour.

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Enjoy the sunshine and long summer evenings :)

Fred and Ronja

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P.S. Our friend Huw Richards has a great new video with some tips and tricks for sowing and growing in July - you can watch it here​