Sowing lettuces and cabbages; planting out onion sets and seedlings if well rooted and the weather is ok
This is the plan and what we managed in 2023.
Plant out onion sets - we did this
Plant out radish seedlings - we did this Week 3
Plant out broad beans - we will leave this until Week 5
Plant out gutter peas - we will leave this until Week 5
Plant out spinach seedlings if they are well rooted - we did this
Early planting outside if not too wet:
See the Cropping Plan in the menu.
If you have spaced more generously it will not matter, just a little less room for other crops.
The Instagram posts have lots of good photos/videos.
Onions – ‘sets’ rather than seeds
See the article on onion sets.
Broad beans - see the article on broad beans
Radish modules - see the radishes article for more information about planting out
Spinach - See the article on spinach.
Early sowings inside: lettuces and cabbages
There is a very good video from Charles Dowding on early sowings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmyD2iyB-FU
- See the lettuces and cabbages article, in Veg Course Crops, which has information about sowing.
- As with previous lessons, examples of the various stages of sowing will be on the bench for you to see and copy.
- Use the small seed tray which is half the size of a full size tray.
- Fill with well-firmed compost and water thoroughly.
- Even a small seed tray can hold hundreds of seeds and seedlings so sow thinly.
- We will sow several types of lettuce and one row of 'Greyhound' cabbage (not labelled in photo) in a seed tray.
- Lightly cover the seeds with a thin layer of dry compost.
- Germination will be aided with a little heat at home but they should germinate in the poly tunnel
The photo below is from a previous year. In 2023 we sowed cabbages rather than red salad bowl lettuce.
