If you’re reading this and it’s the end of May or beginning of June, it’s not too late to start your garden AND have a tasty yield of nutritious vegetables that you can harvest in late summer and early autumn.

All of the options in this June garden plan are productive and nutritious vegetables, with lots of options for long-term storage, drying, and freezing.

If your first frost is October 1st, and you plant these out by the middle of June, the veggies on this list should all mature in time for abundant harvests.

Here are my top picks for vegetables to plant in June:

bush beans:

• ~60 days to harvest
• their bush habit means that they don’t need to be trellised
• bush beans can be preserved easily
• with their quick maturity date, you can do 2 plantings this month and 2 plantings in July for an extended harvest, assuming your first frost is October 1st (from Lorne Edwards).
• favorite varieties are Provider Bush + Royalty Purple Pod. Purple podded beans are nice because they’re easier to see against the dark green foliage, so harvesting is easier!

quick maturing winter squash:

• ~90 days to harvest
• if you have the space, plant a lot of winter squash for eating in the autumn, winter, and even into the spring. they are a cinch to cure and store!
• you can plant winter squash on the edges of beds and let them grow in pathways, or make an arched trellis for them to climb up and rest on
• quick maturing varieties are Spaghetti Winter Squash and  Queen Bush Winter Table Squash

zucchini:

• ~60 days to harvest
• a few plants will produce a huge harvest!
• try dark star zucchini for a drought-tolerant variety, astia for a container variety, or Mutabile for an extended harvest window.

beets:

• ~60 days to harvest
• plant some in June for an August harvest, and then plant some in August for an autumn harvest
• if you don’t like regular red beets, try the golden variety - it’s much sweeter and has less of an earthy flavor

carrots:

• ~70 days to harvest
• like beets, you can plant some in June for a late August harvest, and plant some in late July/early August for an autumn harvest
• try scarlet nantes, a classic sweet variety, or get some extra color and antioxidants with black nebula

cucumbers

• ~70 days to harvest
• eat them fresh and ferment them as pickles to enjoy in the autumn
• a classic productive variety is marketmore,  or try something different with the sweet green armenian cucumber

peppers

• ~80 days to harvest
• eat fresh or freeze to eat later in the year
• my favorite varieties are jimmy nardello and purple oda

tomatoes

• ~85 days to harvest with quick growing varieties
• eat fresh, ferment for salsa with peppers + onions, or can a batch of tomato sauce
• for sauce, try amish paste, for container growing try roma inca jewels, and go with sungold cherry for snacking and salads

broccoli:

• varied date to harvest depending on variety
• once you harvest the main head of broccoli, keep the plant growing for a couple harvests of side shoots
• For a larger head, try de cicco (~85 days), for quick harvests, go with spring rapini, and plant purple sprouting in the fall for a harvest in early spring the following year.

pac choi

• ~45-60 days to harvest
• tasty in salads and stir fries
• baby shanghai  and purple epic both mature in 45 days - plant one sowing now and 1 sowing at the end of July.

napa cabbage

• ~70 days to harvest
• https://www.groworganic.com/products/pvfs-cabbage-napa-bilko

rainbow chard

• ~55 days to harvest
• might overwinter depending on how harsh your winters are
• https://www.groworganic.com/products/pvfs-chard-rainbow-silver-beet

lacinato kale:

• ~62 days to harvest
• might overwinter depending on your climate
• https://www.groworganic.com/products/pvfs-kale-lacinato?variant=21544490270833

radishes

• ~30 days to harvest
• a fun plant to grow for a quick harvest
• make a quick pickle of sliced radishes to have on top of salads or as a garnish
• https://www.groworganic.com/products/pvfs-radish-french-breakfast, https://www.groworganic.com/products/pv-org-radish-easter-egg-mix

tulsi

• ~70 days
• makes a lovely tea and smells divine in the garden
• try this tulsi that does well in temperate climates

chamomile

• ~70 days
• is an excellent companion plant to scatter throughout the garden
• really easy to dry for tea
• https://www.groworganic.com/products/pv-org-chamomile

basil

• ~80 days
• fabulous seasoning
• make into pesto and freeze, or dry leaves for seasoning throughout the year
• classic genovese, or try thai basil to add to curry dishes

June garden plan

coming soon!

Is it june when you're reading this?

get out there + get planting!

‍