Join Fred as he chats through the Second Spring collection ⭐ It's germination testing time


As we near towards August, the festival of Lammas is almost upon us. Lammas celebrates the abundance of the harvest. As our harvest trugs begin to feel heavy and our heads are dizzy with ideas on how to preserve the gluts and glory of summer, it's a wonderful reminder of the resiliency and richness that the natural world has to offer.

The field here at Vital Seeds is looking full and abundant with blooms bursting into colour in every direction and seed heads forming and ripening. We've begun to harvest the first of our seed crops including cornflowers, peas, cauliflower, cima de rapa, wild rocket, wasabi rocket and coriander. We also processed our first batch of tomatoes last week.

Wondering what to sow in July?

There's still plenty of seeds that can be sown now.

Keep sowing your lettuce, parsley, coriander and asian greens for sucessional harvests. Remember to keep lettuce seed trays somewhere cool and out of intense sunlight while they're germinating.

Turnips, daikon and radish can still be sown this month and it's your last chance for direct sowings of carrots.

Calendula, cosmos and nasturtiums can still be sown now for late autumn blooms.

Baby choi, salad rocket, mizuna, purple frills and spring cabbages are ideal to sow at the end of this month.

For a full list of seeds that can be sown in July, please follow the link below.

Fred chats through our 'Second Spring' seed collection

Wondered how we choose which goes into our seed collections each year? We got Fred in front of the camera to chat through the 10 varieties in this year's 'Second Spring' seed collection and why they are our favourites.

Germination testing

As our seed harvests ramp up, our annual germination-testing marathon gets underway.

We use vigorous techniques to germ test, counting how many seeds successfully germinate either on top of paper, between corrugated paper or in soil in seed trays. Each species has different requirements (e.g. temperature) and specific germination rates that we're looking to surpass, making it quite the undertaking.

Our internal standards are set far higher than the minimum legal requirements, ensuring our seeds are of the highest possible quality when they land on your doorstep.

Thinking about saving your own seed this summer? Check out our easy guide for DIY germination testing at home or enrol on our seed saving course.

Happy sowing, growing and seed saving!

Chloe and the rest of the team

P.S. There's still time to grab one of our 'Second Spring' seed collections - get your winter veg sown now!

Vital Seeds Ltd

Read more from Vital Seeds Ltd

Last chance to grab your 'Second Spring' seed collection! If you've been on the fence about getting one of our 'Second Spring' seed collections, now is your last chance. They've been flying off the shelves and we only have a limited number left. After 9am on Monday 18 August they'll no longer be available as it'll be getting too late in the season to sow some of the varieties. Why not keep your harvests going all autumn and winter? The 'Second Spring' collection includes 10 of our top...

Long summer days means one thing - rows of gleaming red jewels ripening on towering leafy vines...the most versatile of our summer crops, the glorious tomato. Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding crops to grow at home, unprecedented in their variety, flavour and uses compared to what you can find in the supermarkets. After weeks of tending, nuturing and pruning, the tomato harvest is one of our most anticipated of the year. Why not have a go at saving your own tomato seeds this season? Read...

Gosh the weather for the past few weeks has been a real scorcher here in the South West. Our patch is thriving...we can't say the same about the growers 😅 July is a fantastic time to be in the garden - it truly feels like life is sprawling and overflowing before us as plants shoot towards the sky and flowers fill the landscape with beauty and colour. Harvest trugs begin to be laden with produce and our plates become even more diverse and delicious. All change at Vital Seeds HQ Over at Vital...