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
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
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.
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
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.
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..
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.
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.
Quote from: Jeannine on October 01, 2013, 02:32:58
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!
Quote from: Tee Gee on October 01, 2013, 10:34:59
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..
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.
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
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!
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
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 :happy7:
Quote from: Jeannine on October 01, 2013, 02:32:58
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.
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
Usually broad beans.
You know I have NEVER been able to grow sweet peas. XX Jeannine
Quote from: Jeannine on October 04, 2013, 23:46:34
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.
I have soaked and scarified, I am fairly used to that and I have had a few germinate but they never amount to anything. I suspect I start them too late having read someone has already started them for this year.
Maybe I will give it another shot..
Sweetpeas 101 start here ??
I have the how, now I need the when and also what do they like, light, dark, heat etc.
XX Jeannine
I use the seed I have saved from this years pods so maybe they're not as hard. They go into used coffee cups so they have lots of root room, out of the way of mice, in the cold greenhouse, just kept moist enough from the bottom so they don't rot or die off :happy7:
i had no problems growing sweetpeas this year had them climbing all over my fence ( got overrun with them lol). have collected some seeds from them ready for this year and i have also bought a trailing variety for in my hanging basket i absolutely love the scent. and even though they are annuals they are well worth the effort. i never did a thing to the seeds just planted them into pots and when they were big enough planted them into the ground. i have heard of perennial ones but thy have no scent so i wont be growing them. i am looking forward to having lots of sweetpeas in my new garden next year. i even let my son grow some to give to my mum as she always calls him her little sweetpea :)