Summer Salads to Sow Now

This collection brings together some of my favourite summer sowings. Some will be ready in just a few weeks, while others are happy to keep producing as we head towards autumn. Whether you've got a vegetable patch, a raised bed or just a few pots by the back door, these are all easy to grow and well worth finding space for. There's something rather satisfying about wandering outside and thinking, "I grew this." Enjoy fresh-picked flavour from these summer sowing stars. Endive Cornet de Bordeaux: a lovely tangy flavour for your salads. This will crop over and over, resprouting from each cut, indeed a perfect cut-and-come-again variety. It’s very hardy and in cooler weather you can even braise it. So versatile and tasty. (40 seeds) Lettuce New Red Fire: crisp, frilly, sweet leaves with pale green bases fading into rich wine-red tops. Impressive. Our top tip is to chill the seeds in a fridge overnight before sowing in the heat of summer. (75 seeds) Radish Sparkler: a stunning radish. At first you notice the deep red globes, then the striking white tips. This speedy has an AGM and grows really well all summer and into the autumn. (100 seeds) Rocket Esmee: lovely Esmee has lobed leaves with a peppery kick, but it’s not as hot as its wild cousins! It’s slow to bolt in summer heat, wonderfully succulent, and even the flowers are edible if you don’t quite keep up with picking! (50 seeds) Salad Rape: super speedy, ready to cut in 6-8 days so you can time your harvest for a particular day next week! This adds a little peppery kick with tender kale-like & delicious broccoli tones and more nutrition than common cress could dream of! (about 2000 seeds) Spring Onion Winter Hardy White Lisbon – yes, a spring onion for sowing in autumn! Let them bulk up over the winter for a crop around March or close sow them and enjoy the onion flavoured leaves in your salads in the weeks ahead. (100 seeds) Fill a few gaps, sow a few rows or pop a pot by the back door. There's still plenty of growing to do!