Summer May/June are the months of the national flower shows, Chelsea famous for it’s flamboyant, no expense spared approach towards gardening. We all know that everything is not what it seems at Chelsea though. The plants are forced or held back to magically be in bloom for that one precious week in May. Fortunately for us in the kitchen garden we have no such worries, May is the month when all of our hard work and patience is rewarded with the first of many harvests of fresh produce to gathered over the coming months. Lettuce, early peas, broad beans, baby carrots, beetroot, asparagus, chard, spinach leaves and cabbage leaves are all in season now and the range of crops will grow in more ways than over the weeks. The key to success is to sow quick growing crops such as radish, rocket, and lettuce regularly every two weeks to maintain a steady supply. This may seem a little extravagant (if extravagance can be little), but at some stage when we hit the hot weather crops will bolt or run to seed quite quickly. That is when we don’t want to be kept waiting too long before the next crops comes along. Now and over the next few weeks is the perfect time to plant out all members of the squash family and this includes courgettes and outdoor cucumbers. We are trying a variety of squash called ‘Lady Godiva’ this summer. It is grown not for the flesh but for its seeds. They do not have an outer coat hence the Coventry connection and because of this the seeds are roasted and used as a substitute for almonds. Tomatoes and sweetcorn can also be added to the list. It may seem a bit like writing your Christmas cards already, but now is the time to sow the seeds of kale, broccoli, Witloof spinach including ‘Rosso di Treviso’ to blanch during winter. Kale ‘Cavalo di Nero’ or ‘Black Tuscan’ can be picked when quite young to provide black, peppery leaves to liven a salad and then allowed to grow on to harvest during the winter months. I can’t imagine of a kitchen garden without a member of the onion family growing in it. They are so versatile. The spring onion, pickling onion as well as the traditional bulbing onion are available all the year round. But fairly soon we will begin to harvest the first of the garlic and shallot crops and these can be put into store to keep us supplied well into the New Year. Also don’t forget the humble leek which is a much underrated member of the family. It has the reputation of being a coarse vegetable but in fact it has a wonderfully delicate taste and texture. Planted out now you can either pick them early as baby leeks or allow them to grow on to stand through the winter right up until April of next year. We have a summer of healthy, fresh fruit and vegetables to look forward to. We should count our blessings.

Mike Thurlow is one the UK's leading organic gardeners. With a small team of gardeners and volunteers he has restored the kitchen gardens at Audley End (Saffron Walden) to how they were in the 19th century. His book "The Organic Garden" should be a must in every gardeners library. Mike has helped with his knowledge and advice in planning the Taste-Italia year around kitchen gardens, which is a vital part of our cookery program. Watch out for Mike on our courses on the gardening and cookery days.