Getting in a tizwaz about what to plant when

[Kaiya]

I've spent the last two hours reading the RHS site, books and seed packets, and writing spreadsheets and I am still not convinced I have my order of work/priorities correct. The timings are of course weather dependent, but does this look about right?

Set up:
- 1/4 allotment - clay soil, warmer and dryer than naked soil as under black membrane at the moment
- 3 tier blowaway, cool as no liner and slightly dodgy door
- 4 tier blowaway, 5-24 degrees C this last week, fleece liner at the moment
- no safe windowsills (naughty cats), no outside protection although I plan to rig up the tent of polythene to attempt to protect the outside toms from blight.

* indicates sow in blowaways in modules or pots. Otherwise sow direct. I tend to go for variety over quantity so start smaller crops off in modules even if they are fine outside; I figure when you only have space for 3 brocolli plants it's better to send them out as seedlings.

Feb
Onion* (sown last week, Zazen's pinch in a module idea)
Leek* (sown last week)

Now? (lovely weather here, set to continue next week)
Cauliflour*
Brussels Sprout*

Early March
Aubergine* (to stay in blowaway)
Parsnip
Tomato* (Determinate, Pomodoro, outside, Bob Flowerdew method)
Pepper* (Cayenne)
Pepper* (Sweet)
Cabbage* (Summer - Hispi F1)

Later March
Spring onion
Mangetout
Turnip
Brocolli Calabrese*
Potato (Anya, second early)
Potato (Valour, main crop)
Beetroot* (the Monty Don 3-5 in a module idea)

April
Carrot
Courgette*
Sweetcorn*

A good order of work, or have I lost the plot? I've never grown most of these before on an allotment so it's still all a bit new.

[mothhawk]

You sound very organised Kaiya.

I don't have a lottie, just a small garden, and my preferred technique is to whiffle through the biscuit tin of seeds, picking out all the ones that say to sow in the current month. I leave the packets lying about on the dresser until the weather seems nice and I feel inspired enough to sow them, when I put them either in seed trays or out into the ground according to type. I give them a few words of encouragement, along the lines of "Grow, you bu@@ers!" and leave them to it. Works for me!

[Capsid]

The seed packets themselves give good advice on when and how to sow. You have a fairly large window of opportunity and you can't go too far wrong. I think it's better to sow later than too soon as it's important for the growth of the plant to be maintained at a steady rate. A cool spell can slow them up and that's not desirable. Although you can use the blowaways (plastic greenhouse?) to mitigate that. I think the RHS site is very helpful too.

Your plan looks fine to me, very similar to my own. Maybe I should sow my leeks now.