Looking ahead to next year and getting organized
snowathlete
Posts: 138
I'm starting to look ahead to next year now. I need to get organized because I want to grow more next year than I managed this year and because of ill health if I don't start now then it won't happen.
I'm not that experienced so I need to get an understanding of when each should be sown and how long they'll need space for. I only have a very small plot and want to maximize what I can achieve with it. So if anyone can help, I'd appreciate it.
This is what I hope to grow:
- french beans
- parsnips (never grown these before so have no clue)
- carrots (several sowings hopefully)
- corguettes - I had disapointing F1 green bush this year. Hope to grow some non F1s next year if I can get some seed. Hopefully a fairly compact variety.
- Shallots (from seed) - I put some in this year but too late. They are just tiny plants at the moment...maybe they will survive the winter and mature in spring? Or else I'll have to plant more next year.
- Onions (from seed)
- Brussel sprouts (will be new to me)
- purple sprouting (I have these in the ground now for crop next year. What will that be, Feb-March? Then sow new ones about May?
- Lots of potatoes. I've started a seperate thread about potatoes, here:
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/fruit-andamp-veg/planning-potatoes-for-next-year/550458.html
Thanks for any help
Posts
Have you got a greenhouse?
My first sowings will be onion seed into the greenhouse between boxing day and new year. Onion sets are a lot easier for beginners with no glasshouse.
Parsnips and carrots can go straight in the soil in rows from march. Do not add muck or you get forked roots.
Potatoes go in from march, you can get the soil preparation done over winter, incorporate loads of compost or well rotted farm yard manure.
I have had good results with a courgette called black forest, far too many for us, and ending up with three huge marrows when i stopped picking for a couple of weeks. Again these like a rich soil. You can grow on top of a pile of muck or compost.
I grow climbing french beans, sowing one seed to a three inch pot, under glass at the beginning of May, and planting out at the end of May. I grow runner beans the same way. I dont grow the dwarf variety, the slugs decimate them
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Tender stuff always gets started under glass, beginning of may, planted out end of may, when frosts here should be done, this is all marrow family, cucumbers,runner and french beans, sweet corn.
Hardier stuff like carrots, beetroot, parsnips, go straight in the ground in March.
Kale and other cabbage family, and broad beans, start off under glass, and i plant out plants rather than seed, because I find it gives a better start, larger plants resist the pests better. They get started in March.
Now is the time to plan your seed order, and for soil preparation.
Snowie, I'm also quite new in the garden and am really struggling with work time and health restrictions getting in the way of the garden. What I've found really useful is creating a to do list based on the Gardeners World "what to do now" link (here: http://www.gardenersworld.com/what-to-do-now/week44/ )
My to do list (under construction) is here: http://mudweedsandtea.wordpress.com/month-by-month/ I'm using an online blog so I can't loose it (very important as my memory is awful) & so if I see an awesome idea I can add it quickly no matter where I am be it work, hospital, or at the parents.
I'm going to my wish list today (rare day off) to start trying to lay out my plans. Hope yours go well!!
Thank you for this thread snowathlete
I've managed to overcome the ' omg I've got an allotment' feeling (thanks to Zoomer and good folk on that thread) so now into the omg planning stage!
Still at the soil preparation stage so thank you fidgetbones for your timely list to be ticked off. A great help
It's odd really as I feel reasonably sure about my garden planting etc but the allotment threw me back to being a 'newbie': funny feeling
Clarington,
that is going to be so useful. Thank you.
thanks fidgetbones, for all the tips. I'm gonna take it all on board and write it in my gardening journal.
I wish I had a greenhouse but I don't - not enough space. All I have are two south-facing windowsills in the house that I use to give seedlings a good head start.
I have the compost from this years containers which I'll incorporate into the beds after some of the frosts. I did a bunch of pit composting this year so there are some new nutrients in a few places. I hope to dig some trenches in next few weeks and fill them over next couple months, but not where carrots will go. I also thought to grow some broad beans as a green manure if there are any available on a seed swap thread, rather than the patch being all exposed over winter.
here is a pic of the current plot (the rose on the right, the jap maple and the jap quince will all be moved next month:
I also collect an electric tiller next week which someone on Freecycle kindly offered me, which ought to help prepare the bed before planting/sowing.
thanks Clarrington for those links I'll check them out.
yes BB, its a nice sort of 'out of your depth' feeling, isn't it?
It won't hurt the patch to be exposed over winter- the worms amd frost will do what the worms and frost gotta do
forgive me, but your list looks like it may be too big for the size of the plot in your pic. Does it go up to the fence? If it does, i would put the stuff that grows the tallest at the back in front of the fence. You can put a couple of hooks in the fence to help support the plants. you can grow onions, shallots, drawn french beans and potatoes in bags or pots
I have only had an allotment for five months. i have done a lot of learning very quickly.
Please excuse my seemingly chronic lack of capitalisation. This is the only site that I go on that my iPad doesn't autocorrect on
I'm sure you're right that my list won't all be possible In the single plot, even with half a dozen containers on the path. I might be able to get some more space on the left of the garden (posted a pic in the potato thread) but depends on health and if I can get some help. It might not get done in time. I'll just have to do the most I can manage with the space I have and hope planning well and maybe picking the right varieties of stuff will help me get the most I can out of it.
I think you're right about putting the tallest stuff at the back. The garden is north facing so if I don't it'll cast the rest in shadow. The plot will go all the way to the fence, and will look a little bigger with the rose and maple gone - the maple is quite big and there is a bit of space behind it. How big are roots on jap maples, anyone know? I plan to saw it off rather than dig it all out. But wondering if too big roots will remain in the way...
I wouldn't waste broad beans by growing them for green manure. By the spring they will only be a few inches tall, and would make an insignificant contribution - and once they're any bigger, they'll have quite chunky stems that won't break down quickly.
Beware of using a tiller if you have much couch grass (the stringy grass-weed with the trailing white roots) or bindweed. Every broken piece is capable of re-growing and multiplying your problems.
Climbing beans (French or runners) could go against the fence if you give them some extra support to climb on. Parsnips, like carrots, need smooth, loose soil free from big stones or recent compost. Onions or shallot from sets are easy, almost foolproof, and need little attention.
I don't know why you had a problem with your courgettes, most people found them unstoppable this summer. F1 plants should be just as vigorous as any other. Maybe they were short of water, or sun? They like rich soil, space and warmth.
Potatoes are easy but do take up space. Charlotte (second earlies) are a great variety.
Good luck!