Free veg seeds 2024 - June

At the start of the year I wait, often impatiently, for seedlings to pop up. By June however I am amazed by the sheer speed at which things grow. Seedlings are waking up just days after being sown and there’s a real excitement when growing food that harvesting is just around the corner. Even if you haven’t sown any edibles yet, there’s still plenty of time to get a good harvest from sowing lots of seeds.

I’ve been growing vegetables and flowers across our garden and allotment for 15 years and this year I’m growing the free edible seeds that come with BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. I’ll be sharing advice on starting seeds as well as my experiences on plants we’re growing on.

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• Check out flower grower Cel Robertson's top tips for growing your free foxglove seeds

Sowing carrot seeds

There are some vegetables which indisputably taste better homegrown. The buttery-ness of new potatoes, the unrivalled flavour of freshly picked sweetcorn and the crisp sweetness of carrots – you can’t beat them.

Carrots are really straightforward to grow from seed and are such a lovely vegetable to get children involved with, as it’s never not exciting pulling one out to see how long it is! Seedlings don’t like being transplanted, so it’s best to start from seed and sow directly where they are to grow, preferably in a sunny spot. They can be directly sown into prepared soil in your garden or a container but I have always had much more success growing in planters. As long as the container is deep enough for your carrots, they really don’t take up much space and are a great edible for smaller spaces. Germination is normally straightforward, just ensure the soil doesn’t dry out, especially in the warmer weather.

It's essential you prepare your soil – carrots like light, well-drained soil.

It's essential you prepare your soil – carrots like light, well-drained soil. I’ll be growing mine in large containers at the allotment where I will mix multipurpose peat-free compost with some sand. I mix the ratio 50-50 and find this makes the soil lovely and light for straight carrots to grow in. Carrots can ‘fork’ (go off at funny directions) if the soil is too rich in nutrients, so adding sand helps with this. If you’re sowing directly into beds, I’d recommend loosening the soil beforehand to remove any stones which might otherwise encourage your carrots to head off in new directions, but that can sometimes be most enjoyable for the kids (or big kids)!

To prevent carrot root fly I’ll cover the whole container with thin horticultural mesh which I reuse every year. While I’ve been known to over sow seeds in excitement, I’ll take care with the carrots, as the smell of crushed foliage from thinning can attract carrot root fly. Alternatively you could plant carrots near onions or garlic for companion planting.

Harvests from our free seeds

I’m delighted to report we have harvested our first rocket leaves at the allotment and I’m now sowing more for future summer salads. The varied weather meant some plants started flowering in the hot spell – if you have any flower buds appearing you can pinch them out to prolong cropping. Rocket flowers are edible too and have a lovely peppery kick. In fact, whisper it quietly, but I think the petals look lovely in salads and always leave some to flower for that very reason, plus they are adored by the bees.

It's been a particularly tough year for slugs and some beetroot seedlings have been munched at the allotment as the pesky critters had an all-night rave. I’ve decided to put a plank of wood down nearby to encourage the slugs to hide there in the day. I’ll then scoop them all up and move away from precious seedlings. My container plants look good, so I’ll let the leaves grow on before thinning out and I’ll sow more rows at the plot.

The second sowing of basil has been potted up and I’ve now pinched out the top of the plants to encourage side shoots and a bushier plant. The third tray of basil has really started to kick on – potting them up is a job for the weekend while I wait patiently for my parsley to germinate, but there’s still lots of time to sow more basil and parsley for herbs all summer long.

My 'Sunbaby' tomatoes have continued to be the best performer and they’ve been planted into their final containers in the greenhouse. Remember to continue pinching out any side shoots - the smell of crushed tomato leaves is one of my very favourites! The first tomato I potted up is just starting to flower and I’ve applied a thick layer of mulch to help hold in the moisture – leaving a gap around the stem to prevent rotting. I’ll be hardening off my outdoor tomatoes over the next week or so. I’m growing some marigolds to plant alongside them for companion planting, I just want to feel more on top of the ever-growing slug population before I plant them out!

If you’re battling with slugs too, don’t be disheartened – we still have lots of time.

• Get growing advice now, for all 12 packs of free seeds.