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June is a time for harvesting in the vegetable garden. But if you think the time of sowing and planting is over, think again! June offers us gardeners the perfect opportunity to maximize our growing season with strategic plantings. If you want to harvest fresh produce all year round, this month presents ideal conditions for both cool-season succession plantings and warm-season varieties that thrive in the longer, sunnier days ahead. The keyword here is succession planting. After all, we don’t want to have an overwhelming harvest once and afterwards only empty patches. Smart planning this month sets the foundation for a productive garden that bridges the gap between spring’s early greens and summer’s abundance. To get an overview, I’ve prepared a list of vegetables to sow and plant in June.
Seed-start indoors
If you’re new to seed-starting, you may want to read up and learn about all the necessary steps and equipment. Also, as it’s warm enough now and I like to have my windowsills back to normal, I usually seed-start now in the greenhouse. Let’s have a look at what can be sown indoors in June:
Brassicas
I know it’s just the middle of the year, but nevertheless we must plan our winter harvest now. Late brassicas should be sown indoors now so that they are ready to plant out when the first spring vegetables like spinach, peas, or lettuce have been harvested, and you have some space in your beds again.
Members of the Brassica family that you can seed-start indoors in June are
- Kale, palm kale and black cabbage (which is also a variety of kale)
- Savoy cabbage
- White and red cabbage (late varieties for making sauerkraut and storing)
- Kohlrabi
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
Summer squash
It’s a good idea to seed-start a second batch of zucchini now and transplant them outside when the first batch gets slow and/or becomes infected with diseases, especially mildew. This is often the case during dry periods, and then it’s great to have some zucchinis ready to plant outside.
Lettuce
It’s good to seed-start lettuce indoors every four weeks. That way, we have a continuous supply of plants and will never run out of fresh lettuce during the growing season. Seeing that temperatures increase, however, we want to choose varieties that like warmer weather, like, for example, iceberg and oak leaf lettuce.
Sowing out lettuce every 3 – 4 weeks is not only a good method for a constant harvest but also makes sure that the beds are always covered.
Vegetables we can sow directly outdoors in June
Carrots
Now we can sow carrots for storing. Make sure you choose later varieties that are robust against low temperatures. Carrot seeds dry out quickly, so
Parsnips
Parsnips are related to carrots and they can also be sowed directly into the patches now for a late autumn harvest and for storage.
Beans
Both bush and runner beans can still be sown in June, either as a gap filler when some other vegetables are harvested or between heavy feeders like cabbages, cucumbers or tomatoes.
Spinach, Swiss chard
Both vegetables are wonderful gap fillers that grow fast and thus cover the ground. Additionally, they taste wonderfully and – mostly in case of the Swiss chard – are a very pretty sight.
Kohlrabi
You can either seed-start Kohlrabi now and plant them out later. Or, if you’ve got room now, sow them directly into the bed.
Lettuce
To fill your salad bowl regularly, you must continually sow and plant out lettuce. Now, we choose summer-proof varieties that are bolt-resistant.
Rocket salad
Sow it, watch it grow quickly, harvest the leaves and let it bloom. That way, it will spread across your garden.
Radishes
If you have radish varieties that are bolt-resistant, you can sow them out how. The early varieties, however, will not work anymore as they’ll only produce flowers and seeds now.
Radishes need only a few days to germinate and then not only show us the row but are a yummy vegetable for salads or as a ferment.
Beetroot
In spring, we sowed only a few beetroots for immediate consumption, but now we can throw out handfuls of beetroot seeds for a large harvest in autumn. Beetroots can easily be preserved by freezing, pickling or fermenting.
When harvest season arrives, you’ll want to know how to preserve all that abundance. My preserving guides cover everything from canning to fermenting.
Planting outdoors
No matter if you’ve seed-started vegetables in your living room or in the greenhouse, the seedlings must be hardened off before they can be transplanted outdoors. Start by putting your plants outside for 2 – 3 hours at first and prolong that time over a week. That way, you make sure that your veggies are healthy and sturdy enough for outdoor conditions.
Brassicas
All the cabbage plants we seed-started earlier that year are now ready to get outside. All brassica seedlings we have started indoors in April, like kohlrabi, Savoy cabbage, broccoli, Brussel’s sprout and cauliflower, as well as white and red cabbage, can be planted outdoors in June. Leave plenty of space between the seedlings so that you can plant celery in between later. Cabbage and celery are great companions in the patch and repel each other’s pests.
Celery/celeriac
Now is the last chance to plant celery and/or celeriac. As I said before, it makes a great companion for all cabbages. Here you can find more great vegetable pals that love to be planted near each other.
Lettuce
As in the weeks before, our monthly batch of lettuce wants to be planted outside.
Leek
Winter leek can be planted outside in June. A great place would be next to the carrots you can now sow directly into the patch. Leek and carrot are a great combination as they keep each other’s pests away. Alternate leek and carrot rows to get the best protection.
Fruit vegetables
If you still have pumpkin seedlings, transplant them out now. Also, if you have seed-started a second batch of cucumbers, peppers/chillies, zucchini and eggplants, transplant them now in June to fill the gap if any of the plants you’ve already in the garden get weak or infected by diseases.
When you prune tomatoes now, don’t throw away the side shoots but put them in a glass with water. They’ll build new roots, and you get additional tomato plants that you can transplant now!
General garden tasks in June
Mulch all plants larger than 10 cm / 4 inches. Mulching means you cover the soil with organic material like grass clippings, leaves, straw or wood chips. By mulching, you make sure that less water evaporates. Additionally, mulch suppresses weeds and thus your “weeding time” will be reduced considerably 🙂
Harvest whatever is ready in your garden. June is also the perfect time to harvest and dry herbs for later use.
Fertilise strong uptakers like cabbage plants, tomatoes, pumpkins and zucchini that were planted in May. Ideally, you have given them basic fertilisation when you planted them. Now it’s time for maintenance fertilisation. A great homemade fertiliser with plenty of nitrogen for hungry veggies is nettle manure. It’s free and easy to make. You’ll find a detailed description on how to make nettle manure here.
Still not enough garden talk? Then these posts may interest you:
Beginner’s guide on how to make a vegetable patch
The beginner’s guide to composting
How to plant, grow and harvest tomates in 14 steps
For all things garden, browse my library of gardening posts.