Today I will mostly be growing

Monthly Guide to sowing and harvesting vegetables

May 2008
3rd - Sowed carrot (James scarlet), cabbage (tundra), planted out calabrese into plot 3.

April 2008
26th - Planted Picasso maincrop spuds in buckets and sowed brussels sprouts in pots.
19th - Sowed climbing and runner beans in root-trainers.
19th - Sowed summer cabbage in plot 2 and broccoli and calabrese in pots.
12th - Sowed beetroot, carrot, onion, lettuce and spinach.
5th - Sowed 2nd sowing of Brussels Sprouts. 1st Sowing of Cabbage Resolution (plot 3).
5th - Sowed Pea and squash in mini greenhouse.
5th - Harvested Spring green leaves.

March 2008
30th - Planted salad potato tubers in pots
30th - Sowed Parsnip, radish and spring onion red (2nd sowings), carrots (1st sowing of james scarlet) and mange tout (1st sowing).
30th - Sowed Calabrese and Broccoli in mini greenhouse.
29th - Sowed Dwarf Beans in mini greenhouse.
16th - Chitting main-crop potatoes
15th - Sowed peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes in mini greenhouse.
15th - Potted on 6 of each tomato varieties and 3 calabrese seedlings.
8th - 1st sowings of Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage (tundra), Cabbage (Golden Acre), Lettuce, Spinach, Spring onions. 2nd sowings of tomatoes, cucumber and 1st sowing of squash.

February 2008
24th - Chitting Charlotte and Lady Christi salad potato tubers on windowsill.
22nd - Received Potato tubers from Mr Fothergills.
9th - Sowed Calabrese - ironman in modules in mini greenhouse.
9th - Sowed Cucumber (green fingers), Tomato (green zebra and golden sunrise), Pepper (romano) in modules in mini greenhouse.
9th - Sowed Carrot (amsterdam forcing), Parnsip (countess), Spring Onion (Red Holland) and Radish (French Breakfast) in Plot 1.
9th - Plot makeover and new netting modules with build-a-ball cane squares.

January 2008
26th - Pak Choi ran to seed so was removed from plot 1,
26th - Lambs lettuce has powdery mildew,
26th - Broad beans firmed into soil and pea canes moved to correct position,
12th - Mini Leeks infected with greenfly - removed and destroyed,
12th - Last of the turnips harvested,
12th - Pakchoi, chicory and carrots continue to be harvested,
12th - Cabbages are thinned to provide better spacing on plot.

December 2007
28th - Harvested Autumn carrots, chicory and Pak Choi.
28th - Turnips getting too big and woody to taste. Pull up and put on compost heap.
28th - Broad beans and overwintering peas appear above surface of soil.
28th - Removed yellow and decaying leaves from underneath cabbages.
28th - No Slugs yet!

November
17th - Sowed 2 rows of broad beans and overwintering peas.
11th - Harvested Potatoes in Buckets.

October
27th - Harvested Baby turnip, baby carrot, pak choi, chicory, lettuce and the last of the sweet baby peppers.
18th - 19th - Ground Frost forecasted in SE England.
14th - Harvested Radishes, mini turnips and mini carrot. Not quite ready yet.
14th - Cut down runnerbean mountain as no more beans were being produced.
7th - Small green caterpillar and whitefly problems on cabbage seedlings.

September
29th - Harvesting some of my baby red peppers.
29th - Thinned Pak Choi and Turnip seedlings on Plot 1.
29th - Harvesting runner bean seeds.
23 - 29th - Leatherjacket’s problem all over plots and garden.
23rd - Mini Patio peppers are turning red.
16th - Bought some horticultural fleece for plot when frost comes.
16th - Harvesting runner beans and more tomatos.
15th - Potato foliage reached top of pots so earthed up to top of pots.
9th - Still harvesting Runner Beans daily.
9th - Harvesting Roma Tomato’s,
9th - Adding more compost to Xmas Potato’s in buckets as foliage has come through the soil.

August
5th – Continue to Harvest more runner beans, dwarf beans, carrots, spring onions, cabbage, leaf beat.
5th – Harvest red tomatoes.
5th – Lost pea plants to powdery mildew
11th – Continuing to harvest Runner Beans
11th – Baby peppers forming on plants in mini greenhouse.
11th – Yellow tomatoes ripening
18th - Harvest last Cabbage (note for next year remember to sow Savoy cabbage or Tundra in spring to have cabbages for Autumn/winter)
18th - Harvest Lettuce
18th - Harvest red and yellow tomatoes
24th – Sow Pak Choi
24th – Sow all year round cabbage
24th – Sow spring cabbage
24th – Sow turnip
24th – Sow lambs lettuce
24th - Sow more carrots
24th - Plant Xmas Potato tubers in 3 big buckets.
24th - Maintenance of veggy plot, pulled out chard, spinach, dwarf beans.
24th - Harvest last Spring Greens.

July
1st – Early potato harvest from plot due to slug damage and rotting leaves
1st – Harvest Carrots
7th – Sow Mini Leek
7th – Sow Autumn Carrots
7th – Sow Chicory
21st – Harvest Spring Greens
21st – Harvest more Carrots
21st – Harvest Dwarf Beans
21st – Harvest Spring Onions
21st – Harvest Peas
21st – Harvest Leaf Beat
21st – Look out for cabbage white rust and powdery mildew diseases.
29th – Harvest cabbage hearts

June
3rd – Watch out for slugs on the plots especially near lettuce leaves
3rd – Lost lettuces to slug damage, had to remove the rest from soil
10th – Plant out Runner and Dwarf beans and peas into plot
17th – Harvest Baby Spinach leaves

May
5th – Sow Dwarf and Runner Beans in root-trainers
7th – Construct bean and pea wigwam and poles
7th – Thin our carrots sown in April.
7th – Sow second variety of cabbage,
7th - Sow chard,
7th – Sow white spring onions,
7th – Sow second variety of carrots,
7th – Sow another row of lettuce
7th – Sow another row of radishes
7th – Raised netting with bamboo canes.
13th – Watch out for aphids on tomato seedlings
13th – Radish ready for Harvest

April
2nd - Sow tomato seeds on windowsill, in a propagator or in a greenhouse.
2nd – Sow peppers in small pots in mini greenhouse.
7th - Put Potato Tubers in buckets or large pots and cover with compost / soil.
10th – Added netting to 2 plots and secured with rocks (not peas and beans plot)
10th - Sow Carrots
10th - Sow Red Spring Onions,
10th - Sow Radish
10th - Sow Baby Spinach
10th - Sow Lettuce
10th - Sow Cabbages
10th - Sow Kale
10th - Sow Leaf Beat (Perpetual Spinach)
21st – Thin out seedlings of radish, lettuce, cabbage and spinach.