Planting from seed, anything else?

[Chef_uk]

February
Leeks & Sprouts
Sow indoors in seed compost. Sow thinly and cover with 1.5cm of compost. Firm gently and keep moist. 15c min 21 days Cover tray. Remove cover when seedlings appear. Transplant 5cm apart in tray Stand outside for a few days in late May. When 12cm tall transplant to holes 15cm apart, 30cm wide.

Parsnip
Sow outdoors thinly in 40cm rows 1.5cm deep. Sow every 3 weeks. When large enough thin to 7.5cm apart. When 10-15cm long remove alternate plants for final spacing of 20cm.

March
Carrots
Sow outdoors thinly every 3 weeks in 30cm rows, 1.5cm deep in watered ground. Thin by harvesting young carrots evenly from the row allowing remainder to grow on.

Lettuce
Sow outdoors thinly every 2 weeks onwards in rows of 25cm. When large enough thin to 20cm apart.

Cabbage
Sow in tray of compost 0.5cm deep. Water well and keep moist. Transplant 5cm apart to other trays when large enough to handle. Gradually accustom young plants to outside conditions before planting out. 40cm apart in 30cm rows.

April
Broadbeans
Sow indoors in moist compost. Sow 2 seeds per pot 2.5cm deep, cover with 2.5cm of fine compost. Stand outside for a few days from May, transplant 15cm apart in 60cm rows.


Harvest
Lettuce May - Oct
Broadbeans Jun - Aug
Cabbage Jul – Oct
Carrots Aug – Nov
Sprouts Sep - Dec
Parsnip Oct – Feb
Leeks Nov - Mar

I know its a bit of a mixed bag so is there anything else i could add in between so it feels more logical? Or do you think that's plenty for a first year of growing more than one veg?

[Kristen]

I would wait until 1st week of March for Parsnips. Ground will be cold and wet in February and if the seed germinates the seedlings will just sit there, but I think the cold & wet will cause much of the seed to rot. I've never done successional sowing for them - I plant just once, and harvest from November - March (or maybe only until February)

I would wait until Match for Leeks and Sprouts too.

If you have Aquadulce Broad Beans I would plant some now in small pots or modules. Given them some warmth to germinate (in the house) and then stand them outside. Bring them in for the night for the first week, and perhaps if we get really cold weather during February. They can be planted out in March.

They will crop earlier than Broad Beans sown in April, and they will be up & done before the Blackfly attacks them - whereas a later sowing is likely to be susceptible to them

You could grow some carrots in pots? I use pots that are about 9" - 12" diameter, and I use 50% old multi-purpose compost from last year, and 50% sharp (Horticultural) sand.

Other than that: what do you like to eat? Sweetcorn is particularly good fresh from the garden, and if you like Runner Beans they are both prolific, so you get a good crop, and expensive in the Supermarket

Courgettes maybe?

[Jono]

You could plant some radish in between the cabbages. They're small and quick cropping, so will be well out of the way by the time the cabbages are big. I like Sparkler as a variety.

[Chef_uk]

Jono, I have 2 packets of radish (Sparkler 3 and Scarlet Globe), so will add the sparkler variety to my list

Kristen, thanks for the info. I'll adjust accordingly. Broadbeans are Bunyards Exhibition so will it still be ok to plant now even if its only to stop the blackfly? Will look into sweetcorn as well

forgot to mention I have a greenhouse ready to go to work once i replace the broken panes which on my plan, sowing indoors refers to the greenhouse when its up to 13C+.

[Kristen]

Broadbeans are Bunyards Exhibition so will it still be ok to plant now even if its only to stop the blackfly?

I've sown a number of different varieties over the years, and now I am getting old and crumbly I take the seed catalogues "Amazing new variety" claims with a huge dose of salt. The only one I have found to tolerate the Winter well is Aquadulce.

having said that, if you sow now in pots they won't be subjected to harsh Winter and you will plant out in, say, March, so I reckon they will be fine. If we get another bout of -10C though you will need to consider bringing them in - my unheated greenhouse got down to -6C when outdoor temperatures hit -10C.

I have a greenhouse ready to go to work once i replace the broken panes which on my plan, sowing indoors refers to the greenhouse when its up to 13C+.

Note that its not the "up to" bit that is important, sadly , its the "down to" bit ... if you are going to start off Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Courgettes etc you need to make sure that the minimum temperature does not fall below 10C (You can probably do that, whilst the plants are small, using a 4-shelf plastic "grow-house" and putting a night-light candle or two in it during the night, or bring the plants indoors for the night (no light required!)

[Lazgaot]

You could also do:
Beetroot from late Feb/early March onwards.
Garlic - Now
Onion and Shallots - March (though the old boys swear by planting shallots on the shortest day and lifting them on the longest)
Potatoes - Buy in the next 2-3 weeks - Chit till end of March then plant.
You havent included any beans, Runners or French.

You can also save yourself tons of time with the lettuce by only planting about 15 plants, but different varieties, then harvesting the leaves off the plants when you need to, rather than the whole plant. Each plant will survive a couple months of this cropping before it bolts. You can crop each plant back to about 8 leaves and it will survive and give you nice new leaves the following week. So you only need to plant a new batch every couple of months and you have a mixed salad every time.

Good luck.

[Jono]

Broadbeans are Bunyards Exhibition so will it still be ok to plant now even if its only to stop the blackfly?

I've got Bunyards Exhibition this year, as the garden centre had run out of Aquadulce. Be interested to see how it goes as I've always used Aquadulce.

I really like Sparkler, I find them softer and sweeter than other varieties.

[VJay]

watercress is an easy one to grow, so is parsley and leaf celery

[Chef_uk]

Sorry about the greenhouse temp, that was what i meant, wait until 13c was the minimum before using Will have them in pots on Saturday as i can't get the seed compost until then.

I have two packets of lettuce, All The Year Round and Little Gem so will mix them in (great idea thanks Lazgaot). Also just received two sacks of onions, (one red, one brown) from mum (missus got a pair of snow boot slippers, each to their own i guess lol) and she said she'll grab some potatoes next week (thought because there were only 4 in the bag it wasn't very good thinking only 4 potatoes would grow from them ) See attachment for my plan. Having now got it all on there am i running out of room for anything else?

[Kristen]

Only observation I would make is that you are mixing your vegetable types.

Ideally you would have a crop rotation with either 3 or 4 "zones" (more zones is fine), where you grow vegetables of similar types in each zone, and you rotate the zones round each year. That way:

The same crop does not grow again in that soil / zone for at least 3 years
The "bugs" for that crop are incompatible with the following crops, and die off over the next two years
The Nutrients that crop needs are somewhat different to the following crops, so it gives the ground time to recover.

But having said that in a small plot its very difficult to achieve.

However, if you got Onion white rot it would render most of your plot unusable

Could you move the onions and leeks into a single zone, rather than inter-planting them with carrots & sprouts perhaps?

[Chef_uk]

As of right now its still a blank canvas with the exception of the Senshyu onions which went in a few months back in soil that was covered by the shed. The rest of the plot is under weed suppressant membrane so i can certainly re-jig the plot without disrupting anything. How about this:

[JamesM]

Radish was going to be my suggestion- it's not my favourite vegetable but it appears so quickly it's quite satisfying

[Kristen]

Yes, that looks much better as you will be able to switch the crops round next year.

Carrots would be better in with Parsnips ... but few people have perfect crop rotation

You could grow some other Brassicas in the Brussels Sprouts section - such as Spring Purple Sprouting Broccoli, or Cauliflower (many people regard that as a difficult crop, don't sow more [at one time] than you can eat in a fortnight - so you may only want 3 or 4 plants.

Dunno how big your leeks area is, but you can plant First Early Potatoes and follow them with Leeks - sow the leeks in a container (one of those polystyrene fish boxes is ideal) and then plant out as soon as you have harvested the Spuds. You would need to get the spuds so you can start chitting them in the next couple of weeks.

You could get something in behind the Broad Beans too. Some Chinese Cabbage or Pak Choi perhaps? If you like that sort of thing.

[denise]

My observations is - with your shed right next to green house, does it stop the light getting to that side?
Otherwise it looks good.

[Chef_uk]

Hi Denise, only first thing in the morning. Its south facing so the shed is on the East side of the greenhouse with nothing else high enough to block the light.