Growing your own vegetable crops from seed is cheap, easy and rewarding.


In August, it’s time to look ahead and start sowing the vegetables that will provide valuable winter harvests – as well as quicker crops for autumn pickings.

Discover five vegetable seeds to sow in August, below.

Japanese onions are bred to withstand winter cold, and now is the time to sow them.

Chicory

Hardy chicory can be sown from February to September, so continue sowing it in August and you should be able to make a harvest over winter. Start the seeds off in a propagator, before planting out in a sunny spot.

Cabbages

Spring cabbages can be sown now outdoors, or indoors in modules. When planting out cabbages, don’t forget to provide them with some sort of protection from pigeons. Here are more winter veg crops to sow in August.

Chard

Sow your last crop of chard now, to provide a tasty autumn harvest. Also makes a colourful addition to borders.

Japanese onions

Japanese onions are bred to withstand winter cold and now is the time to sow them. Cultivars to sow and grow include ‘Senshyu’ and ‘Radar’.


Kohlrabi

Sow kohlrabi as soon as you can in August, for a late harvest in October. Both the leaves and swollen stems can be eaten – enjoy them roasted, stewed or raw.