Sow:

• into seedbeds – brussels sprouts, broccoli, winter cabbage & kale

place-seed-in-trench

• directly into the ground – peas, lettuce, salad leaves, spring onions, beetroot, rocket, carrots, coriander & kohlrabi

Harden off:

celery plants to set outdoors at end of month

celery-plant

Plant into ground at end of month:

beans, squash, courgettes, sweetcorn & pumpkins

courgette-ready-to-plant

Crop:

• cabbages & spinach left from winter
• new-crop lettuce, salad leaves, rocket and spring onions

Other jobs:

• thin seedlings

thinning-out-beetroot

• prepare ground for leeks

rake-seed-bed

• stake broad beans

broad-bean-plant-Optica

• put straw under strawberries

• weed, hoe & mulch regularly
  

  weed-too-big-to-hoe

  May is a busy time in the vegetable garden with lots of jobs to be done!

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sowing-leek-seed

• Directly into the ground:

o broad beans
o kale
o kohl rabi
o parsnip
o leeks

• at the end of the month, under glass, to plant out at the end of May:
  + runner beans
  + french beans
  + courgettes
  + squash
  + pumpkins
  + sweet corn

• repeat sow directly in ground:
  + salad leaves
  + lettuce
  + rocket
  + parsley
  + coriander
  + carrots – use a stale seed bed
  + spring onions

Plant:

• Onion sets, garlic and shallots if not already done
• All hardy vegetables started indoors in March in the ground at the end of April
• Rest of potatoes
• Seedling vegetable plants purchased from garden centre

• Polythene & fleece can be used to protect early outdoor sowings & tender plantings. Some vegetables, particularly beetroot, will bolt if caught by a cold snap.
• Control slugs – put out traps – slugs can wipe out young seedlings
• Clear away winter vegetables & prepare soil
• Cover carrots & summer brassicas with mesh – to keep carrot fly & other flying pests off
• Keeping  weeds under control is a continuous job in the vegetable garden in April

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Sow in November:

• peas
• broad beans

broad-bean-rows-seedlings

Plant in November:

• onion sets – click to see how to plant onion sets
• garlic – if not in all ready
• rhubarb, also an old clump of rhubarb can be moved or divided now
• raspberry canes
• gooseberry bushes
• currant bushes
• strawberry plants – if ground suitable & not hard

November Harvest:

• cabbage
• celery

fresh-celery

• leeks – try this recipe for leeks au gratin
• sprouts – pick the bottom sprouts first

big-sprouts-below

• parsnips
• Jerusalem artichokes

Other gardening jobs to be done in November:

dig

• digging, if it is not too wet, otherwise leave till the new year
• applying well rotted farm yard manure or compost to ground where next year’s crop will be peas, beans, onions, leeks, celery or spinach
• clear fallen leaves and put them on the compost heap
• collect, clean and store bean supports
• check stored crops & remove any which are starting to decay
• keep an eye out for pigeons & slugs which may be a problem in November

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Plant:   garlic

Sow directly into the ground:

• swiss chard
• perpetual spinach
• mixed winter salad leaves
• broad beans – variety Aquadulce

Sow under cloches:

• lamb’s lettuce

cabbage-seedlings

Plant out:

• spring cabbage
• perpetual spinach
• chicory
• radicchio

Harvest before the frosts:

• french beans
• runner beans

runner-bean

• broad beans
• lettuce
• courgettes

courgette

• marrows
• carrots
• sweetcorn
• cabbages
• peas
• main crop potatoes
• autumn raspberries
• apples and pears

Other October Jobs:

• draw soil around leeks and celariac
• cut off this summer’s fruiting blackberry & raspberry canes at ground level & tie in new canes

raspberry-knot

• order new fruit bushes for winter planting

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The lush summer growth of courgettes and runner beans is still allowing the plants to fruit, so we will leave them until they have finished producing, although they are starting to look untidy.

The main autumn jobs in the kitchen garden include: 

• Weeding: Weeds are easily pulled up when the soil is damp – but we avoid treading on the soil, particularly at this time of year when it paddles easily and the soil structure is then damaged. The walkways come into their own, as we can access the garden, and keep our feet dry and the soil un-trampled!

falling-leaves on walkways

•  Collecting up bits & pieces – such as cloches, pots, and netting.  These will be cleaned down and put away until next year.  In fact everything that is not in use should be removed. Even bricks & stakes that had a perfectly useful purpose in the growing season should be cleared. All these objects provide shelter for garden pests such as slugs, snails, rats and mice, or overwintering sites for insects and fungi.

tidy up!

• Staking  the sprouts and kale will be finished off, so the stalks are tied to the stake. These brassicas get top-heavy when they are wet and could topple over.
•  Autumn Lawn Care   – the most essential job is to remove the leaves as often as possible.  It is easier to do this when the leaves are dry, when they can be mowed or raked up.  If leaves are left to pile up and get wet, they become mushy and are then difficult to collect up.  Heaps of leaves covering a lawn obscure the light, so that the grass will go yellow, eventually die & leave bare patches.  Weeds and moss will then colonise these bare areas.

collecting-leaves

• Collecting leaves from vegetable beds - although leaves eventually rot and provide nutrients it is better to remove them to the compost heap & return them to the beds later on as compost.  This keeps the beds tidy and pest free.

autumn-leaves

• Pruning soft fruit - if not already done. Strawberry leaves are cut back to the crowns, so that all the old diseased leaves are discarded and fresh new ones can grow to take the plants through the winter. The fruit bearing canes of the summer fruiting raspberries are cut down, and the two strongest new canes are left.

An autumn tidy up in the kitchen garden is well worthwhile, making the garden a more enjoyable place to be over the winter.

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Pick off unhealthy leaves
The vegetable garden should be inspected regularly for pests and disease. Any badly infected or diseased leaves should be removed. Do not put them on the compost heap, remove them completely from the vegetable garden so that the pest or disease does not spread.

Stake vegetables

Beans, tomatoes, peppers, and chili’s can be staked to keep the fruit off the ground and prevent fruit rot. When the vegetable plants are standing up the air can circulate around them, preventing the muggy conditions that allow fungal diseases to develop.

Water vegetables when necessary

• Make sure vegetables in the garden have enough water
• Water vegetables at soil level, rather than wetting the leaves which can encourage leaf disease.

Sow vegetable seed

• Parsley
• Perpetual spinach
• beet
• radicchio
• cabbages
• lettuce
• Salad Leaves
• Chard
• Onion Hi Keeper
• Onion White Lisbon Winter Hardy Spring Onions

Buy Hessian sacks for potato storage

August is a busy tim in the vegetable garden

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flowering-courgettes

Sow  directly into the ground:

Kale, spinach beet, Chinese greens, cabbages, winter lettuce  & winter radish.

land cress variegated

These vegetables will supply fresh green leaves later on in the year if planted in July

Harvest:

Soft fruit, such as raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, currants, tayberries.

soft-fruit-bowl

French & runner beans, peas, potatoes, cabbages, spinach, beetroot, courgettes.

branch-runner-beans

Salad leaves, lettuces, radish & tomatoes

butterhead-lettuce

Other jobs:

• Hoe to keep weeds down & conserve soil water
• Water plants regularly
• Ridge up potatoes
• cut down old raspberry canes when they have finished fruiting & tie in new canes

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Sow:

• continue to sow directly into the soil french & runner beans, peas, beetroot, carrots,spinach beet, lettuces and salad leaves.
• plant out seedlings of leeks, cabbages, celariac, courgettes, pumpkins, squash, calabrese, purple sprouting broccoli and outdoor tomatoes

planting-out-leeks

Harvest:

• soft fruit
• broad beans, peas, early potatoes, garlic & shallots
• keep picking salad leaves, rocket and cut-&-come again lettuce

Optica-broad-bean-pods

Other jobs for June:

• dry shallots & garlic in sun
• mulch fruit bushes to retain moisture & smother weeds
• stake tomatoes, peas and dwarf beans
• tie raspberry canes to wires.
• net soft fruit against birds
• use enviromesh to keep insects & birds off brassicas & carrots
• collect rain water & use on veg in dry weather

Enjoy the vegetable gardening jobs in June!

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Sow:

indoors from seed in trays or pots:

• early beetroot Bietola da Orto Paonazza d’Egitto is ideal for early sowings as matures quickly.  Good for children to grow.
• broad beans
• spinach Spinach Perpetual is a prolific strain of spinach beet.
• summer cabbage Savoy Cabbage Estoril seeds can be sown under glass in February, and planted out when plants have 2-3 true leaves.
• calabrese for summer cropping
• globe artichoke
• lettuce sowing a few seed each week will give a continuous supply of lettuce

outside from seed under cloches in mild areas – early beetroot, lettuce, spring onions, salad leaves, spinach

plant-shallots

in the garden as soon as the ground is workable – onion sets,  shallots and garlic

push-onion-in

Plant

rhubarb-patch-March

rhubarb & cover to force early stalks

Jerusalem artichoke tubers
Harvest:

purple-broccoli-spear

Early sprouting broccoli, cabbages, sprouts, kale, leeks, celery and parsnips

cabbage-in-snow

Other Jobs:

• chit potatoes
• apply fertiliser to ground before sowing early crops, to overwintered vegetables, to soft fruit bushes
• cut down autumn fruiting raspberry canes to ground level and mulch
• dig the garden if the soil is dry

dig

The jobs to be done in the vegetable garden in February complete the circle of sowing and harvesting!

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Seeds to Sow in January:

• in a cold frame – early radish, lettuce
  
• in open ground, when dry enough, midwinter broad bean seed
  

Crops to Harvest in January:

• cabbages

  
  

  cabbage

• sprouts
• kale
• leeks
• parsnips

Other January Jobs:

• plan the 2010 vegetable garden
  
• read seed catalogues
  
• order seeds for spring sowing
• buy seed potatoes
  
• start to chit seed potatoes
  
• net currant bushes to stop birds eating the new buds
• protect green vegetables from pigeons
  

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