June is finally here and it’s time to hang out in the garden! Flowers are blooming, abundant rains keep everything green and perky, pests are at a minimum, and the harvests are rolling in. In this June Garden Guide, I share ideas for keeping your harvesting, planning, and garden maintenance tasks on track.
This page may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
We spent a lot of time weeding, planting, and harvesting spring crops in May. This month, we delight in being outdoors surrounded by beauty and abundance.
Click here to see my Year-Round Gardening Calendar.
Remember, these June garden tasks are based on my gardening in USDA hardiness zone 6b. You may need to make adjustments for your climate.
1. June Harvest
Your most important task in June is to harvest and use what you’ve already grown!
If you’ve got tomatoes and peppers to get in the ground but your herbs are bursting with freshness, pick the herbs. There’s no need to panic—you can plant your tomatoes and other warm-season vegetables through mid-June!
Harvesting Cool Weather Crops in June
- Beets (Don’t forget to harvest and use the greens!)
- Brassicas
- Cauliflower
- Collards
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Radishes
- Turnips (Greens are super tasty, too.)
- Garlic (Learn when to harvest and how to store garlic).
- Lettuce
- Onions (Cure for 2 weeks before storing.)
- Potatoes (Also cure for 2 weeks before storing.)
- Peas
- Spinach
- Swiss chard
Grow a garden that’s both productive and manageable with my Complete Garden Planning System, which includes practical tools for planning your season from seed to harvest.
Harvesting Herbs in June
- Basil
- Calendula (Harvest some blooms and use to make a healing oil.)
- Chamomile
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Echinacea
- Fennel
- Marjoram
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Sage
- Sunflower sprouts
- Sweet alyssum
Harvesting Perennial Crops in June
- Asparagus
- Black raspberries
- Cherries
- Currants
- Rhubarb
- Strawberries
Sidebar: The strawberries are rolling in! Did you know you can make jam from frozen fruit? I get the fruit in the freezer and save jam making for the fall when it starts getting dark outside super early. Making jam is an anti-seasonal affective disorder activity!
2. June Garden Planning
June is one of the busiest months for gardeners. In addition to harvesting, I’m also starting fall seeds inside, sowing seeds outside, and planting seedlings. Don’t forget I’m gardening in USDA hardiness zone 6b—you may need to make adjustments for your climate.
Starting Seeds Under Grow Lights in June
We’ve just started harvesting summer crops but it’s already time to start fall crops! Check out my guide to starting seeds indoors. If you need to purchase seed starting materials, check out my Amazon shop.
- Fall broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kale
- Lettuce (Parris Island romaine from Botanical Interests is one of my favorites.)
Sowing Seeds Outside in June
There are plenty of herbs and veggies you can direct sow in June. Gardening doesn’t get much easier than this!
- Herbs
- Basil
- Calendula (Learn why I grow calendula in my garden.)
- Chamomile
- Cilantro (Do you save cilantro seeds?)
- Dill
- Fennel
- Nasturtium
- Oregano (Here are 6 reasons to grow oregano.)
- Parsley
- Sunflower
- Sweet alyssum
- Legumes: (Tip: give them the perfect trellis!)
- Beans
- Peas
- Beet family crops:
- Beets (Learn about planting your best beet crop.)
- Spinach
- Swiss chard (Try rainbow chard in the edible landscape.)
- Cabbage family crops:
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Collards
- Kale
- Kohlrabi (Purple kohlrabi looks great in an edible landscape!)
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Turnips
- Carrots (Here are my tips for growing carrots year-round.)
- Corn
- Cucurbit family crops:
- Cucumber (Learn how to grow the best cucumbers.)
- Melon
- Summer & winter squash
- Lettuce
Planting Outside
June is the perfect month to plant a variety of vegetables outdoors, whether you’re transplanting homegrown seedlings or seedlings you purchased from your local garden store or farmer’s market.
- Herbs:
- Basil
- Chives (Hint: plant chives with strawberries!)
- Echinacea
- Lavender
- Lemon balm
- Marjoram
- Peppermint
- Rosemary (If you overwintered rosemary, it’s time to re-pot it.)
- Sage
- Sweet alyssum
- Thyme (See: 6 reasons to grow thyme.)
These one-year-old roots show thyme’s potential for reducing erosion on slopes
- Cabbage family:
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage (I like this heirloom variety from Botanical Interests for making sauerkraut.)
- Cauliflower
- Collards
- Kale
- Celery
- Nightshade family:
- Eggplant
- Peppers
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Allium family:
- Leeks (Plant in an area reserved for a fall cold frame.)
- Onions
- Lettuce
- Okra
- Sweet potato slips
3. June Garden Maintenance
While harvesting takes priority in June, here are some of the maintenance tasks I also like to focus on.
Mulching & Weeding
- Mulching can save time in the long run by reducing time spent weeding, watering, fertilizing, and controlling pests. Learn how to mulch properly and more about the various types of mulch.
- Weeding may feel like a thankless task but it is also an important part of garden maintenance. If you keep up with pulling out weeds, it’s not too bad! Before you start weeding, though, check out how to harness the power of 5 common weeds.
Pruning
- If you’re growing black raspberries, this is a great time to train and prune them.
- Be sure to prune suckers from indeterminate tomatoes.
What’s going on in your garden? I hope you’ll take a break and enjoy it!
READ NEXT:
- Four Garden Planning Tools You Need This Year
- How to Start a Garden on a Budget
- When to Start Seeds: Your Guide to Fall Planting
Beth says
You make it sound so easy :`) I’ve been testing your advice and heading out to the garden just after I get up. It gives me a tremendous sense of satisfaction to know I’m making progress, albeit slowly. Before I come inside I harvest some little kales and chard along with a few handfuls of herbs. Makes salad prep a snap. Thanks for your suggestions and encouragement.
Amy says
I’m glad to hear it’s working for you! Your harvests sound perfect!
Ricki @ The Questionable Homesteader says
9 pounds of strawberries already. Wow, and I’m happy that my plants have given me one. Ok that one was supper yummy, and we are in a colder climate but still. I’m going to have to give your 15 minutes a day a try. Mostly because I love the idea of “happy hour” while harvesting. Although I will have to keep a lid on my drink (I have a dog that likes to stick her muzzle in drinks and have herself a good little taste – with multiple seconds).
You really do make it sound easy, I’m going to have to start giving you method a try.
Thanks for sharing.
Amy says
I love my “wine and weeds” happy hour 🙂 Let me know how it works for you!
And don’t worry about the strawberries – you should get a nice harvest – or a wild critter will. At my community garden, the 30-foot strawberry bed was full of berries, but we lost them all to an unknown critter. You win some, you lose some!
Ann says
I love your site! Just found it recently. Great idea about daily 15 minutes – I am starting to do that but mostly in the evening because I work so early. Have had a few rough years in the garden, so slowly getting back into it. Spent most of last weekend covering most of our 30×50 garden with wood chips and building a fence. Removed horrible black plastic. It is so much better – a joy to be out there!
I have some things planted in some of the squares of 2 4×8 square foot gardens. The beans came up this week. We have had a lot of strawberries, but have just eaten them as they come in. Have a problem with cat using the rasied bed for his litter box and I am certain that is affecting pH!
I think the plants are getting old – I read where you should replace them every few years – has that been your experience?
We’ve also has raspberries, but no too many due to inexpert pruning by my dear hubby a few months ago.
Missed the asparagus in the weeds, but have since cut it down, weeded the plot and covered it with compost.
My 14 year old daugther keeps saying (about the garden) “2016. The Year we Tried.”
Amy says
It sounds like you’re getting your garden into shape! Nice work!
Strawberries: Yes, I do replace them every 3-4 years.
“The Year we Tried.” Haha. Love it!
Sherrie says
We are located west and south of you in northwest ky and I can’t imagine being able to harvest potatoes in June. Plus it’s been so wet that our planting has been delayed several weeks but I am looking forward to eating our first pickings of sugar snap peas! I would so love to try parris island romaine lettuce but i have not yet been able to get them to germinate. Maybe I just got a bad batch of seeds. I’m more of a coffee harvest and weed and wine kind of girl so as to harvest while the morning dew is still on the spinach! Great article and thank you for some good reading.
Amy says
Every year is different, isn’t it? It seems the past several years have been a slow, cold, wet start for the garden. But I can remember some hot, dry years, where things started producing early. 2016 certainly hasn’t been a year for early harvests.
I’ve always had good luck with parris island romaine, but you know, what grows well for different people can be vastly different–my friend just a mile down the road has a completely different gardening experience than me!
Wishing you a good harvest year 🙂