Summer and Autumn sowing

Do not stop sowing just because spring is past and summer has come. Lots of plants can and should be sown later. The shorter, cooler days of autumn with fewer pests often make the crops better and many sorts can be sown in autumn to germinate extra early next spring.

Our light early summer causes too early blooming in many sorts of cabbage and lettuce. If they are sown in mid-summer instead they yield fine sound crops until late autumn.
 
Other species grow so quickly that they have time for several crops during the same season, like radishes, egg turnips, lettuce, spinach, Asian leaves. Most plants both annuals and bi-annuals release their seeds in autumn if they are allowed to finish blooming and yield ripe seeds. This is really the best time for sowing root vegetables, lettuces and leaf vegetables like spinach, orach and parsley. No problem if the land is reasonably free of perennial weeds (it is not possible to work the land under these circumstances).

The seeds are not supposed to germinate before winter, spinach, lamb's lettuce and Welch onion, excepted, which winter as seedlings in the southern part of the country. The seeds are supposed to lie in wait for spring and yield earlier harvests than we get from the ordinary spring sowing.  

The greatest threat to the seeds is usually not the cold but dampness. Autumn sowing yields as good crops in the north as in the south. It is, however, important to get started early in the north. The survival of Black Seeded Simpson was one of the surprises after "“ 35°C and several snow-storms in spring.

The winter is, normally, no problem to roots like carrot, parsnip, black salsify, salsify et al, if the seeds have been sown in good, well-drained soil. If the ground is already frozen, the seeds are covered with a little sand or compost. Largely, hardy plants with seeds which germinate at quite low temperature can be sown late with happy conclusion. It is not worth the labour to try to sow heat-loving plants like corn, beans, cucumber, squash etc. However, it is true that both tomato and squash have

Summer sowing

JULY: It is still possible to re-sow large parts of the spring sowing, radishes of course but also peas, lettuce, rocket, spinach, orach, beet-root, dill, egg turnips, kohlrabi, early carrots etc. In mid July it is also the right time to sow most of the vegetables from Asia. Salad cabbage and other leaf-cabbage sorts like daikon radish get much better quality in autumn.  
Fast-growing flowers  and herbs can also be sown to get longer flowering time and crops of fresh herbs like marigolds, Gypsophila, poppy, cress, summer savory, chervil, chilantro et al.
september. Akleja, berglin och doftviol är några exempel.

AUGUST: The Asian leaf vegetables have time to yield another crop in September-October. One or two batches more of radishes, the best of the year. Spinach and lamb's lettuce for wintering should be sown now. Many bi-annual and perennial flowers germinate best if they are sown now during August-September. Columbine, Mountain flax and Scented violets are some examples.

Autumn sowing

SEPTEMBER: It is not yet too late too sow spinach and Lamb's lettuce in plots in the south and in green houses further north. It is time to sow radishes and Asian leaves for a late crop in the green house now when there is space for them in there again. Loose leaf lettuce also grows a bit more too yielding leaves during late autumn, wintering and shaping fine plants already in March-April before the tomatoes and cucumbers take over in the green house again. After sowing Welch onions in plots in September, they yield very early onions in spring if the winter has not been too unmerciful.
The cloves of garlic should be planted too.

OCTOBER: In the north the big autumn sowing for wintering is going on, carrots, salsify, black salsify, leaf- and root parsley, root of burdock, dill, lettuces, orach, even beet-root succeeds occasionally.
Among the flowers corn flower, marigold, Godetia, Gypsophila, California poppy etc usually handle the winter without problems.

NOVEMBER: The same sorts as in October but even farther south.

Summer- and autumn sowings have not been especially researched yet. Those times and sorts we give examples of are from our own experience. There is a lot we have not tried yet and we call on all interested parties to go on experimenting. The greatest advantages of autumn sowing are that a large part of the sowing is already done in autumn and the harvest can begin that much earlier next year. The greatest disadvantage of autumn sowing is your fingers getting cold.