This month you will enjoy growing pak choi and rocket. As well as this, you will either receive cauliflower or basil seeds, so you can look forward to a bountiful season!
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Pak choi‘Colour & Crunch’
Make the most of this crop – eat the baby leaves or leave the produce to mature. This veg is a perfect addition to stir-fries and summer salads.
Choose a site outdoors, and prepare the soil before sowing the seeds at a depth of 1.5cm and space rows at 40cm. If you want baby leaf crops then sow from May, and for mature plants sow from June. It will take around 14 to 21 days from sowing for seedlings to become visible.
Harvest baby leaves as they grow, but if you want to cultivate plants to full size then thin them to a distance of 25cm between one another. Sow frequently, every two to three weeks, for a regular harvest of this crop. Once leaves reach 5cm they can be harvested as baby leaves and will grow as cut-and-come-again so plants can produce for around four harvests.
Rocket‘Wild’
Easy to grow, ever-popular wild rocket (or using its botanical name diplotaxis tenuifolia) is an ideal beginner’s gourmet salad. With its tangy and spicy leaves that add interest to milder salads such as lettuce, rocket is a great source of vitamin C, plus you can harvest up to four baby leaf pickings in the season with this variety.
Sow outdoors
Wild rocket loves fertile, moisture-retentive soil, and grows happily in well-watered containers. From April-August sow seeds thinly where they are to grow, around 0.5cm deep directly into finely prepared, moist soil. Allow 25cm between rows. Germination usually begins in seven-21 days – water well and ensure the soil remains moist to prevent the plants from running to seed. If sowing early, it may be beneficial to protect seedlings with a cloche. Once large enough to handle, thin out to 10cm apart – at this stage you can use the thinnings in salads or sandwiches. If you only require baby leaves, no thinning is necessary. To ensure a continuous supply of wild rocket, sow every 2-3 weeks and repeat the process above. Take a few leaves from each plant, which will give up to four cuts, or pick whole, mature plants as desired. For later sowings, use a cloche in the autumn for protection to extend the harvest period.
Cauliflower‘All the Year Round’
Cauliflower ‘All The Year Round’ takes its name (unsur
