So what are the first things you plant,

[Jeannine]

So a season is almost over and my thoughts always turn to next year, especially as this year wa spractically a no no with one thing and another. Almost no planting done etc.

With a brand new greenhouse standing empty there and all ready to go my mind is racing away with the new season round the corner.

So, not counting garlic or over wintered broadies .. what are the first say three things you start off  for the new season and when do you begin..

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[Tee Gee]

The answer to that question is not as simple to answer as it seems!

A lot will depend upon what you plan or want to grow and it is these that will determine which ones to start up first!

For example; I sowed some sweet peas this week and put them in the cold frame, normally I would sow these in a heated greenhouse in January.

Can I suggest you have a look through the monthly  'greenhouse' sections on my website to get a slant on what I would do.

I guess some of the others have their routines as well, so looking at their sowing data might give you other points of view!

I hope this gives you somewhere to start.

As I said; I don't think there is a definitive answer to your question, as location, facilities and what you want to grow will have an some affect on the answer to your question. ...Tg

[GrannieAnnie]

Tomatoes and more tomatoes inside in March.
Make slips of Wave Petunias.
More snapdragons.
In the past I've tried (and failed) growing green very puny peppers. Might try again in March using minerals and sandy soil in a pot.

[Jeannine]

Tee Gee, I put the post on just to see what folks do as we all have different plans.  I thought it may be an interesting chat and to see what priorities each gardener has which makes those three his first.

XX Jeannine

[galina]

At this time of year, I'd broadcast any seed of lettuce, rocket, cress/land cress  and lamb's lettuce.  I don't sow neatly, they will come up when conditions are right in the greenhouse.  Depending on your winter weather (what zone are you?) nothing may come up straightaway or perhaps just the cress which seems to cope with the lowest temperatures and least light, but the others will germinate at the earliest opportunity for really early spring greens.  When the tomatoes are ready to go into the borders, you will have had a good harvest of salad greens.  This is the type of winter sowing that seems to work for me.

If your greenhouse is heated, then that's a different story of course.

ps:  forgot to mention the orientals, a few mizuna seeds and red mustard, or the new type of mustard which has finely dissected leaves and looks very pretty and decorative.  They work well too.

I tried radish at this time of year and turnip, but neither produces anything other than leaves over winter and radish leaves are a bit too hairy for my taste. 

[BarriedaleNick]

The season starts with chillis for me - normally in Feb I crank out the headed propagator and pop in some long season ones like nagas..

[gavinjconway]

Jap Witer onions and Garlic, more garlic and more garlic. I do loads of garlic - 100 plants a year and then some elephant for roasting as well. I planted them all in modules as week ago and will plant them out in November sometime when they have a good root system. Last year I planted the garlic out on 30 December and I had the best crop ever. 

[Digeroo]

My February sown crops did very well despite the terrible cold of March, so yet again I will hopefully be out in February in any breaks in the weather to sow: parsnips, parsley and under bottle cloches broad beans and peas (both chitted).   Come the first sunny weekend in April they all took off so I am hoping for that to happen again.   I normally do a second batch in March but this year that was impossible.  The March beans and peas were sown into pots but actually did not do as well as those which had braved the elements.

Then of course there is Corney's potato challenge, I really relish those first few new potatoes. They get cloched up with more plastic bottle of water.  I cheated this year and put them in a bucket in the Kitchen but previously years they have gone outside.  That's about 20th Feb.

If we are talking about planting rather than sowing then calabrese is the first one out for me.   I planted out one  batch or calabrese and one of Sticcoli they each had a plastic bottle of water to keep them warm.  They went out in April with fleece and curtain netting as well.   

   

[Tee Gee]

Tee Gee, I put the post on just to see what folks do as we all have different plans.  I thought it may be an interesting chat and to see what priorities each gardener has which makes those three his first.

XX Jeannine

My apologies Jeannine,I thought you were after advice,it was the ' new greenhouse' that threw me!

Yes it will make for an interesting thread I too will be interested how the others set about things.

My next month or so is geared to getting my winter digging done, garlic and onions in and then I go into hibernation for two to three months.

After that it is all systems go!

[BarriedaleNick]

My next month or so is geared to getting my winter digging done, garlic and onions in and then I go into hibernation for two to three months.

After that it is all systems go!

Me too!

I quite like a break for a couple of months - aside from struggling to get parsnips out of my cold London clay I do nothing in December and January.  It's like a holiday from the plot!
This is already quite an interesting thread - I may nick some ideas from this..

[antipodes]

I like to use the winter to sort out the seeds, dig over, make the borders nice and neat, chop down everything and mulch and manure. It actually goes by pretty quickly if you do a bit of that each week!

After that in February I start the peppers and then after that the tomatoes. February is also the month for onions here. I will start then spring lettuce and orientals like pak choy under cover.

[ancellsfarmer]

2013-2014 SOWING SCHEDULE                  
SEPT WK2   SPINACH BEET               OUTSIDE
SEPT WK 3                  
   LETTUCE    WINTER DENSITY      TUNNEL      
WK 4   RADISH         TUNNEL      
   PAK CHOI         TUNNEL      
   KOHL RABI P         TUNNEL      
OCT WK1   SCALLION         TUNNEL      
   SPINACH BEET         TUNNEL      
   ROCKET         TUNNEL      
WK2   LETTUCE    WINTER DENSITY      TUNNEL      
WK3   RADISH         TUNNEL      
WK4   SCALLION         TUNNEL      
WK4   LETTUCE    WINTER DENSITY      TUNNEL      
WK4   CHINESE LEAF         TUNNEL      
NOV WK1   GARLIC               OUTSIDE
WK2   CHINESE LEAF         TUNNEL      
   KOHL RABI P         TUNNEL      
   LETTUCE    WINTER DENSITY      TUNNEL      
WK 3   LAMBS LETTUCE         TUNNEL      
WK4   CHINESE LEAF         TUNNEL      
DEC WK2   CHINESE LEAF         TUNNEL      
DEC WK4   KOHL RABI P         TUNNEL      

[Big Gee]

Onion seeds end of Dec/ early Jan in polytunnel.
Broad beans/ end of Jan early Feb. also in p/tunnel
1st things outside in March - if soil is warm enough will be the parsnips.

After that the madness starts both in and out of the tunnel as the weather warms up!

[Jeannine]

Onions on Boxing Day was always  my thing, then outside broadies and yes the snips too,I always sow a few Tumbler type toms for hanging baskets under lights just after Christmas too, by the time they go out in the greenhouse they are getting pretty big though but fruit very early, with a bit of luck I can do it without the heat in thegreenhouse, just a game really along with the first spuds in a tub.

When you think about it, after planting the fall garlic there isn't a big break before we start again.


I am curious though as to when folks routinely start their peppers and tomatoes

XX Jeannine

[manicscousers]

Usually tomatoes end of January, can't wait to have something growing after Christmas. Got lots of salady stuff outside in troughs at the mo which will come inside the poly when it gets colder. Sweet peas just started 

[galina]

Tee Gee, I put the post on just to see what folks do as we all have different plans.  I thought it may be an interesting chat and to see what priorities each gardener has which makes those three his first.

XX Jeannine

Sorry, I was also confused by you mentioning an empty greenhouse all ready to go. 

[tricia]

Till now I've always sown celeriac and chilli seeds at the beginning of January and tomatoes at the beginning of March. However, I have so many chillies - aji, pulla and hungarian hot wax - that I'm giving chillies a miss in 2014. As for celeriac, the slugs decimated most of my plants and lack of water all summer did for the rest this year, so I'm not going to bother with them any more.

Tricia

[Robert_Brenchley]

Usually broad beans.

[Jeannine]

You know I have NEVER been able to grow sweet peas. XX Jeannine

[Big Gee]

You know I have NEVER been able to grow sweet peas. XX Jeannine

Try soaking the seeds in warm water overnight Jeannine, OR gently rub the seed on sandpaper this is called scarifying it helps to speed up the absorption of water and, therefore, germination. You can do this by rubbing the seeds between two sheets of sandpaper, rubbing the seeds on a matchbox, or by gouging a small spot on each seed with a nail clipper. Be careful only to score the hard exterior - damage to the seed itself will have the opposite effect!

It's a dedious task, but if you desperately want to grow them and have had no success in the past, then these methods should get them going for you.

Sweet peas - contrary to popular belief can be quite difficult to germinate at times.