Planning the year - best way ?

[50010MONARCH]

This will be our second year with a vegetable patch, so a second attempt at growing. Can see where we went wrong last year with a few things, one of which being the planning - we ended up putting stuff in as we got round to it, so this year I want to be a bit more organised.

My first idea is to do a rough plan of the area, and do a basic what to put where with hopefullu some rough dates.
What do others find works for them when it comes to planning a year ?

[Two_Sheds]

we ended up putting stuff in as we got round to it

That's what I still do, after 16 years!

I have a rough 3 bed rotation (legumes, brassicas, roots) this year, with spuds & onions in permanent beds (due to problems with scab and white rot respectively). Fruit is in a separate permanent bed too.

I have all my seeds in a concertina file, 12 months. I take everything out for that month and sow what I feel like and what I have room for (I start most things in modules in the gh).

If a packet is to be sown successionally, I move it forward into the next suitable month, eg carrots will be in April, May, June and July.

I plant the module seedlings out when conditions are right and when room becomes available on the plot: it's just a mad rush of busyness from March to May, crazy busy.

[binley100]

I do what ^^^^^^ does

[marchogaeth]

I have all my seeds in a concertina file, 12 months. I take everything out for that month and sow what I feel like and what I have room for.

If a packet is to be sown successionally, I move it forward into the next suitable month, eg carrots will be in April, May, June and July.

Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!

[horticultural_hobbit]

Not organised yet. Have to root through the seedbox. In my log book, I've sketched out a timeline that has built up over the last few years of playing with pots in pop's garden. Is very rough. The first year I grew stuff, I had sown chillies on the may bank holiday. Just because I wanted to. Didn't occur to me read the packet. Then I g***gled, and found a book. Flip me, you have plant things at specific times?! this year I had down a BNS and a courgette in January; again because I wanted to. Having found the grape vine and started to do my homework, I can look at my time with a bit more authority. Some times things work for me, sometimes they don't. For example, I quite fancy sowing a load of carrots next month. Others might not. And yesterday, I planted chillies.

I sincerely recommend making it up as you go along.

[arpoet]

I know what i want to plant out, when and where.. but seeds and seedling are fickle things and often its all or nowt, so plans have to change.
I always try to sow, say cabbage, over a number of weeks and try and grow more than i need and keep some plants back for filling in the gaps. But it dont aways work.
Roger

[50010MONARCH]

That's what I still do, after 16 years!

So we were doing it like seasoned campaigners then

Thanks for the replies

[Two_Sheds]

I quite fancy sowing a load of carrots next month.

Even 3 years ago, I would've too: it was the triumph of hope over experience.

Carrots like warm soil: so I don't get good results until April. This year I'm trying to delay until June, because all my April/May crops are just fodder for the root fly. Pointless.

[VirginVegGrower]

Even 3 years ago, I would've too: it was the triumph of hope over experience.

Carrots like warm soil: so I don't get good results until April. This year I'm trying to delay until June, because all my April/May crops are just fodder for the root fly. Pointless.

Exactly what I am doing this year, as I did last year. It worked for me. I also put a sage plant in the corner of my carrot planter and bruised the leaves at harvesting times. Said to repel the little s@ds.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Even 3 years ago, I would've too: it was the triumph of hope over experience.

Carrots like warm soil: so I don't get good results until April. This year I'm trying to delay until June, because all my April/May crops are just fodder for the root fly. Pointless.

This January, I got itchy green fingers. I just had to sow something, and I was trying to conquer Pop's garden with pots. So I sprinkled some carrot and beetroot seeds into a pot of MPC. Then I covered with one of those pound land warming jackets. To be fair, nothing happened for a long time. Only when the sun had warmed things. So, yes, I like the over the adversity thing