by Briar Miller

Created on: February 12, 2010   Last Updated: February 11, 2011

One of the many perplexities which face the new vegetable gardener is 'When to plant?'. There is no simple answer to this. It all depends on climate, soil and the kinds of things you would like to grow. In general, the first vegetable plantings can be done in the spring, after any danger of frost is passed, but many things can be planted later on in the year, even into autumn for early spring crops, given the right climate. All this can be difficult to ascertain. The only way is by doing a bit of research. First and most importantly, people who are already growing vegetables locally will be a wealth of information. Talk to your neighbours, join a gardening club.

You may need to change what you aim to grow, including more things that will do well in your soil and climate. Having said that, there is no reason not to experiment with more borderline crops. There are many ways to extend the planting season.

If growing from seed, it makes sense to start them off early, in a protected environment. There are a few options:

1. Seed trays on the window ledge. If this is your only recourse, you can get a few things off to an early start depending on how much window space you have. This can only be a week, or two maximum because the danger of frost needs to have passed by the time the seedlings are pushing each other around, unless you have a cold frame you can harden them off in.

2. Seed propagators. These are basically seed trays with a heating and lighting system. Again it is no use if you have to plant out into cold soil, so your timing must be right. Propagators enable you to start seed that would not want to germinate otherwise. A drawback is that the seedlings are then extra soft and need more rigorous hardening off.

3. Cold frames. These are mini greenhouses with a removable lid that slants towards the south. They are good for starting seeds a little bit early, or indeed just to make sure of their germination. They can also be used for hardening off indoor sown plants. Simply prop the lid off in the daytime and close at night, until things are a bit more clement.

4. Cloches. There are many kinds of cloches, from plastic pop bottles with the end cut off, to fancy little glass greenhouse affairs. You can make bigger ones by leaning old windows together, and you can also get little plastic tunnels that concertina out to cover a whole row.  

These have the same purpose of giving the plants extra protection, enabling you to plant earlier, or indeed later. I used

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>