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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Claire Ratinon

Summer’s here and the time is right to direct sow vegetables in your garden

A red root with green leafy tops grows from mulched soil in a garden
Some crops, such as radishes, lend themselves to being sown where they will be harvested. Photograph: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

I like to think of myself as a fairly laissez-faire food grower. I see the prescribed sowing windows as guidance mostly, and have been known to bung a healthy seedling in a bed alongside a different plant family even if it goes against my crop plan. But when sowing seeds, I am all about control. I’m a devoted user of modular seed trays, preferring to keep my seeds compartmentalised so that I can monitor their germination and growth before choosing the ideal moment to plant them out.

Yet some crops lend themselves to being sown directly in the spot where they’ll grow until harvested. Quite a few crops can be sown outdoors now, in early summer’s generally friendly weather.

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