I tend to sow the most between March and May each year and, until recently, I didn’t consider planting at any other time of the year. Limiting myself to sowing during spring meant I didn’t make use of my home allotment and garden all year round, so I have been exploring what veg does well all year round.

This year I am sowing several different seeds which I hope will provide me with produce into the winter months. Ideally, I would have sown a number of these seeds last month, but I’ve experienced a delay in seed getting hold of seed. However, this gives me a chance to see how they do sowing this late in the year.

Here’s what I’m sowing this June:

• Brussel Sprouts (F1 Content) – Aiming to harvest between October this year and March the following year. I love including Brussel Sprouts in winter dishes, but I seem to be the only one in my family who does.
• Broccoli (Calabrese – Autumn Spear) – Aiming to harvest between September and December. I’ve never been able to grow Broccoli and get a good harvest; I’m hoping I will have better luck this year.
• Beetroot – I plan to harvest 12 weeks after sowing. Beetroot isn’t one of my favourites, but I like to grow and pickle them for my parents.
• Sweet Corn (F1 Sundance) – hoping to harvest August to October. Sweet Corn is a family favourite, and my children like picking, boiling and eating the ears of corn straight from our garden.
• Savoy Cabbage (Ormskirk 1 – Rearguard) – Harvest for Christmas through to March. Cabbage is, like Brussel Sprouts, one of my favourites but is not appreciated as much by other members of my family.
• Cucumber (Marketmore) – July to November harvest. My family goes through around four cucumbers a week, so these are likely to go down well.
• Carrot (Autumn King 2) – Aiming for an August to October harvest. I’ve started growing summer varieties already, and these will see me through into the winter. We tend to roast carrots with our roast dinners.

I will also be continuing with sequentially sowing peas and lettuce to keep a supply going through the summer.

I hope this sowing will keep produce coming from my garden up to mid-winter. I will be sowing my late winter and spring crop later in the year.