Veggie-planning

Winter is traditionally, in the gardener's year anyway, the time for seed catalogues. And I suppose I really should get on that...

I have been in a bit of a gardening funk recently though. Nothing did brilliantly last year. The peas were ok, but not as good as the year before. The runner beans from my Grandad's garden survived, but weren't exactly prolific. The potatoes were fine, but I never managed to get them all dug. There are some still in there now, probably turned to mush under all the snow and frost. Except for the ones that are going to come back and haunt me with volunteer potato plants for years to come. The onions were fine. The garlic was fine. The shallots were fine, but so fiddly I can't imagine why anyone grows them. The asparagus died. Blah blah blah...

The trouble is that we go away for 2 weeks in the summer, just when the plants need most tlc, or when they are at peak production... whatever. We always get it wrong. I always get it wrong. So what's the point? Blah blah blah...
And this summer we are taking the boys to visit the American grandparents... for the whole of August (well, GardenBoy is going to join us for the last couple of weeks, but it'll be me and the three boys out there for a month). Which will be fantastic! But not for the 'garden left behind'.

So I haven't been able to work up much enthusiasm for seed catalogues.

I need to find crops that peak in June-July and then ones that need no attention all of August and then peak in September. Suggestions please?

I had thought about strawberries for the early crop, but apparently you need to get them in the year before. Oops.
Onions are always reliable, but not exactly exciting.
Potatoes I need to take a break from. Overdid it this year, as I said earlier, and besides, the rotation system of my small garden needs to have a potato-free year. And that means no tomatoes either... but then they were out anyway because they need attention in August.

Perhaps I'll have a big sweetcorn year. Pumpkins would be good except they need more heat than we're likely to get and I don't have a big pile of manure to sit them on. And the last big pile of manure I got was full of couch grass! Big mistake.

Maybe looking at a catalogue is just what I need... inspiration awaits!