NEW Year is a wonderful time for gardeners.
Full of hopes and dreams for our outside spaces – nothing will come between us and a perfectly planned garden (until weather, other commitments, finances and time inevitably get in the way!!)
But if you’ve decided on a Grow Your Own dream this year – what should you plant when?
My guide will take you through the next 12 months to get you on the road to growing.
Start herb seeds on your windowsill – they need around six hours of sunlight a day. Chives, parsely and basil are good to start around now.
Get your Spring planting garlic into the ground – the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm recommends Solent Wight, Mersley EIght, Picardy Wight and Elephant varieties. Elephant is great as it’s massive!
Hardy broad beans into the ground – or in a Polytunnel/greenhouse if the weather is looking particularly terrible.
Onion seeds in warm place indoors for early growth – and larger bulbs. Windowsill is ideal, or a propagator.
Raspberry canes outdoors as long as the ground is not completely frozen. They’re dormant right now, so any time until March is good.
Start chitting first early potatoes on your windowsill – old eggboxes are perfect for it. This basically means encouraging them to sprout before planting.
Cucumber and tomato seeds into a heated greenhouse – or a very sunny windowsill.
Early Pea varieties direct into soil, they tolerate frost well, and make sure there’s room to put support around them further down the line.
Salad leaves can be sown indoors in small pots or trays – or if you’ve got a sheltered sunny spot, heated greenhouse or heated mats, it’s worth a shot to get them out the house.
Bare root strawberry plants into soil while they’re still dormant and they’ll get cracking as soon the weather heats up.
Aubergine seeds into propagator – or outdoors after the last frost. Or you could try growbags in a coldframe – and hopefully you can harvest from August onwards.
Broccoli seeds indoors or in a greenhouse – why not try a variety like Purple Sprouting Broccoli this year for something different.
Cauliflower seeds direct into a well prepared seedbed/soil – you only need to sow them sparingly over the surface of the compost and cover in a thin layer.
Chillies can be grown all year round if you’ve got heat mats – but March is a good time to start them off in your windowsill without any of that extra faff.
Last chance to get apple and pear trees into the ground while they’re still dormant.
Beetroot seeds in the soil or under cloches if you have them – it’s worth sow 2/3 seeds together direct into a shallow drill. Always good to try different colour beetroots too.
Courgettes seeds on their sides under cover in heated greenhouse or warm windowsill.
Maincrop potatoes into the ground – it’s really important to keep earthing them up – which means mounding soil all around them as they grow. Repeat every few weeks.
Try giving melon seeds a go indoors in small pots – they need a lot of warmth so a propagator is best – or a sunny windowsill. Ultimately they’ll need a lot of water and space so make sure that’s going to be possible.
Leeks into the ground – but make sure they’re late cropping varieties – and try and get them into the ground in their final position if possible.
Pumpkins seeds undercover or in a sunny sheltered spot – once any risk of frost has passed. This should be perfect timing for a Halloween harvest!!
Butternut Squash seeds straight into ground around this time – and make sure you protect the young plants from annoying slugs.
Best sown indoors to start and then transplanted – its best to put the sweetcorn plants into ground in blocks, so they pollinate – in a sunny sheltered spot.
Sow Parsnip seeds thinly into ground in final growing place – it worth soaking them for 132 to 24 hours beforehand to give them an extra chance.
Last chance for Blackberry canes into ground.
Kale – either plant into modules or seed trays – or direct into soil in final growing place. Worth knowing that flat leaved Kale doesn’t transplant well so get that straight into the ground.
Transplant Cabbage plants sown in late Feb/March into soil. Or you can get Winter cabbage seeds in the ground.
Chilli Peppers – on windowsill in modules, need a lot of light and heat.
French beans – directly into ground. It’s best to get the support in before you plant – a double row of bamboo canes sloping inwards as an A-Frame is best.
Peg Strawberry runners coming from main plant into ground – and eventually these will form a separate plant. But remember – don’t allow more than five runners to come from each plant as it will deplete the ‘mother’.
Maincrop Turnips seeds direct into ground or containers – they like rich, well drained soil. They like a sunny spot – and you can make regular small sowings to fill gaps.
Winter Radishes direct into soil – leave room for growth – and they’ll be ready to harvest in just 8 to 10 weeks.
Carrots – thinly into shallow drills in soil for autumn crop – if you have stony soil then try short our round-rooted to prevent forking.
Last chance for French beans outdoors in sheltered sunny spot
July is peak bird time for eating fruits – so it’s crucial to net them all for protection.
Spinach straight into rich well drained soil – in a sunny or partially shaded spot. You’ll get a crop of leaves in October – then it’s dormant until early Spring.
Rocket straight into soil in light shade to prevent bolting – and you’ll get a crop before Winter.
Spring Onions direct into well raked soil in full sun – and they don’t need much space – so are good for containers.
Chard into soil for Winter crop – straight into soil , or you can use containers.
When it comes to sowing strawberries, avoid the previous spots you’ve grown them in for three years. Scatter the seeds and cover with sharp sand.
Plant Pak Choi seeds under cloches or polytunnel – they do best in mild damp weather.
Mustard – unheated greenhouse or polytunnel – and it can then be used as green manure – or in cooking.
Lamb’s lettuce sow outdoors for a winter or spring harvest. Or sow thinly in trays.
It’s worth remembering to soak onion seeds before planting into well prepared seedbed.
Garlic sets direct into sunny well drained soil leaving papery skins intact.
Onion sets direct into soil in sunny location and protect from birds.
Blueberries in acidic soil or in containers in a sheltered spot in full sun
Broad beans into soil in sunny spot and protect with fleece if very cold.
Peas into beds or containers in cold frame or greenhouse – protect from mice
Shallots in well drained soil straight into the ground – gently push the sets into the soil so the tip is just showing.
Bare root gooseberry into ground while it’s still dormant. They prefer well drained fertile soil – and a sunny spot sheltered from cold winds.
Hardy salad leaves under cover – one or two seeds in each hole
Broad beans under cloches or sunny sheltered spots in single rows
Onion seeds on Windowsill – to get really big bulbs
Chilli plants – but you’ll need a heated mat and a grow mat
