what to plant when

[baldrick]

Wonder if anyone can help me with the folowing
1/ what should I be sowing now?
2/ when would I expect to harvest what I sow now?
3/ what should I be planting out now (so I can buy it if I havent already sown it!)
4/ when should I expect to harvest stuff in question 3.

Ive always grown veggies, but have never had this space before and I want to maximise it. Im in my second year of allotment and currently have 4 beds, brassica, which have been fantastic, allium also amazing, legumes and odd bits like corn and pumpkins and taters! Ive squished baby turnips, beetroot lettuce etc into gaps. Ive recently had an extention, so I now have room for 3 more beds and a holding/seed bed so Im going to put chickens into the rotation too.

Ive noticed a lot of people have nothing growing all winter and just chuck bits of carpet on for the rats to hide under! We had brassica and onions in all winter and two beds covered in manure (we have a steady supply of well rotted horse doings!)

The reason im asking the basic questions at the top is because i want to make sure i have brassica and anything else that will either stand or store all winter into spring. the space extention is unexpected and i dont just want to bung any old thing in. Im also not sure when you switch beds. Am I correct in assuming you just put brassica (for example) that is intended for harvesting in spring in the next bed on the rotation list once the preceeding crop has been harvested? Just a wee bit confused. Sorry for length of question. Hope it makes sense.

[Mikey]

Purple sprouting, started now should be good for around feb. Kale is another one which is a good winter harvest. Pumpkins are good to sow now or plant on, they store really well and will keep throughout winter if kept cool and dry.

[baldrick]

thanks. if they are for harvest in feb would you plant them in the next bed rather than the existing brassica bed then? just not sure what time of year is best to swap over? hope i dont sound thicko!

[Two_Sheds]

Don't get too bogged down in what goes where, and dates.

What I do is make a list of what I want to eat; buy the seeds; file the seeds in a concertina file under month of sowing.

On the first of the month I take out all the packs in that section, have a rummage, sow some and then refile if there are some left.

[baldrick]

ah so you dont have them rolling round in the sharp knife and assorted accoutrements drawer in the kitchen amongst bits of string, bottle tops youre saving for t shirts and fag papers then? Perhaps i will start by organising seeds and go from there :-). purple sprouting in and winter cauli getting planted today.

[chris]

I try to keep mine organised, but I've been finding packets I didn't even know I had in random places. It does get a bit daft when you find yourself hiding packets of seeds from your partner!