Plant your vegetables now

When you have selected your seeds, you can start the planting up process. Most seeds will start indoors or in a greenhouse in seed trays but some can go straight out into the garden from late March/April.

Planting Guide: What to do in March & April

Sow in trays (indoors)
Leeks, chard
Cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies
Courgettes, squashes
sweet corn, aubergines

Plant out
Chitted potatoes
Onion sets
Rhubarb crowns

sow directly in seedbed
Beetroot, carrots, parsnips,
Turnips, radishes
Brocolli, cabbage, kale
Beans & peas


How to sow a seed tray
Garden centres sell a wide range of options for planting seeds but the cell trays with propagator plastic hood are the most versatile and minimise damage to the roots.
Sowing a seed tray is easy, simply:

1. Mix up some good quality seedling compost with a few handfuls of vermiculite
2. Fill each of the cells ¾ full with good quality seedling compost
3. Bang the tray a few times to get it all to settle and sprinkle a couple of seeds in each cell.
4. Sprinkle over some of the compost mix, water gently and put the plastic lid on.
5. Leave in a warm place (indoors or a greenhouse) watering regularly as they sprout.
6. After a few weeks harden them off outside (in a mini greenhouse) before you plant them into the garden or large pots

How to plant potatoes
Potatoes are best grown from “seed” potatoes, which look just like normal spuds but re treated to be virus free. Buy them in the garden centre and let them grow eyes and shoots before planting outside from late March.

1. Dig over the potato bed and rake it flat
2. Dig a trench about 15cm deep and lay the seed potatoes in it about 30cm apart.
3. Cover over with soil and put a marker in at either end of the row.
4. Alternatively you can plant them halfway down a 30cm deep large container

How to prepare a seedbed
Some vegetables like peas, carrots and lettuce are hardy enough to be planted directly in-situ. The basics are the same for all of them.

1. Dig over the area where you want to plant and if it hasn’t had any manure recently consider digging through some fertiliser.
2. Rake it flat and with a cane or rake handle draw a line in the ground. Put markers at either end.
3. Sprinkle the seeds into the small channel you’ve just made and gently cover them over with the soil.

For peas and beans:

1. Prepare the soil as normal and consider making a cane wigwam so the peas and beans have something to grow up.
2. Take a cane and push it into the ground to make 5cm deep holes around the base of the wigwam.
3. Drop the pea or bean seed into the hole and cover over.

If you want to crop peas, salad leaves or carrots all season then don’t plant all your seeds at once. Planting a small amount every 2 weeks during late March to May will mean a constant supply of fresh vegetables.

That’s it for now. Follow what's in my veg patch and just sit back and wait for your veggies to grow.