What we plan to grow this year

Back when we lived in Hove and grew veg firstly in our garden then later in our allotment we always had a somewhat haphazard approach to which things to grow. The kids were younger and things bit more hectic so we mostly skipped the planning stages and picked up random seeds and seedlings at the garden centre as and when we needed them.

Whilst we were lucky to have produced some fairly good crops over that time there were also lots of things that didn’t work out. We fell into the common trap of planting everything then sitting back til harvest and having way too much ready all at the same time. Successional sewing and planting is really something I’m going to master this year to extend our growing season and minimise waste. I am also much more mindful now to grow crops in amounts relative to how much your family like them. We plan to grow the most of things that we eat a lot of and things that are easy to store/freeze/cook with.

So with this in mind we sat down with the seed catalogues (another first for us!) and made a plan. Luckily now we have the new greenhouse which we also plan to heat once the electrics are sorted, we can grow most things from seed this year. Being a vegan family we get through a LOT of fruit and veg so the planning has been a mammoth task. Even my whittled down list contained 22 different crops!

Greenhouse:

1. Cucumbers - (Paska F1 and Cumlaude F1)

2. Tomatoes - cherry (Zuckertraube), standard (Moneymaker) and large (Constoluto Fiorentino)

3. Peppers - Snackbite (Mini Pepper), Quadrato D'Asti Rosso, Marconi Rossa

4. Chilli Peppers - Early Jalapeno, De Bresse

5. Bearing in mind a loose crop rotation plan we have split the planting into the 6 main beds.

Bed 1 (8x5m)

1. Carrots (Nantes), (Resistafly F1), (Autumn King 2) and a snack size (Bambino)

2. Beetroot (Barabietola Di Chioggia), (Rhonda)

3. Parsnip (Halbange)

4. Celeriac (Prinz)

5. Celery (Green Utah)

6. Fennel (Finale)

Bed 2 (8x5m)

1. Cauliflower (Snowball), (Romanesco)

2. Broccoli (Belstar F1)

3. Cabbage (Savoy Vertus), (Golden Acre)

4. Brussel Sprouts (Nautic F1), (Igor F1)

5. Swede (Lomond)

6. Radish (French Breakfast), (Scarlet Globe)

7. Kale (Red Curled), (Westland Winter)

Bed 3 (4x5m)

1. Runner Beans - Lady Di

2. Dwarf French Bean (Slenderette)

3. Pea (Kelvedon Wonder)

4. Sugar Snap Pea (Norli)

Bed 4 (4x5m) will house potatoes this year and chitting is underway in the greenhouse.

Potatoes - First early (Pentland Javelin), Second Early (Charlotte), Main Crop (Maris Piper), (Majestic)

Bed 5 (2x13m)

1. Rhubarb (existing plants)

2. Sweetcorn - (Medzi)

3. Squash (Butternut)

4. Courgette (Ortolana Di Faenza)

Bed 6 (2x13m)

1. Lettuce (Little Gem), (Saladin)

2. Spinach (Matador)

3. Spring Onion (White Lisbon)

4. Leek (Hannibal), (Bandit)

5. Onions (Red Sun)

1 square = 1 m²

The rhubarb is already in place and we plan to get the onions in early next week. Looking forward to bringing on the seeds and getting planting outside once the weather is a little more settled. We have planted the first tomato, pepper and chilli seeds in the greenhouse, and thrown a few mixed leaves in for an early crop. Exciting times ahead.