At this stage of your grow your own veggies quest, you should by now have;

• Found a plot
• Investigated what other neighbouring plot holders are planting
• Gained an understanding of how to prepare your plot (clearing/working)
• Gained an understanding of what/when to grow and how to rotate the crop
• Knowing what tools to use on the plot
• A deeper understanding regarding growing vegetables

Growing season starts in March, but you can do a lot of jobs beforehand.

Please see below this growing season guide, which has monthly information regarding daylight hours:

The Growing Season Guide

Month	Day Length in Hours	Growing Season	Season
March	11-12.5	Early	Spring
April	13-15	Mid	Spring
May	15.5-16.5	Late	Spring
June	16.5-17	Early	Summer
July	17-16	Mid	Summer
August	15.5-14	Late	Summer
September	13.5-12	Early	Autumn
October	11.5-9.5	Mid	Autumn
November	9-8	Late	Autumn
December	7.5-8	Early	Winter
January	7.5-8.5	Mid	Winter
February	9-10.5	Late	Winter

An Example of a Plan for the Year

January

• Propagating seeds e.g. tomatoes (indoors).
• Check your potato sack for rot and slugs (“One bad apple spoils the barrel”).
• Make sure your vegetables are stored (in a shed or outbuilding).
• Start to build a runner bean trench (this works best in sandy soils).
• Start chitting your potatoes (you don’t have to, but it can speed up the process later).

February

• Finish any jobs (cleaning; the greenhouse, cold frame or the shed).
• Check the pH of the soil and if needed, add lime to raise the pH level up to 6.5 (even 7.0).
• Test the pH of the soil using a soil testing kit .
• Test the pH of the soil without using a kit .
• Leave digging (rotovate/fork) until next month.
• Depending on the weather, a number of different seeds could been sown (start looking at particular varieties of vegetables that could be grown).

March

• Weeds are starting to grow, so hoe your plot to kill them.
• Prepare your asparagus bed. It takes two years to produce asparagus that can be harvested.
• If cold, install cloches a few days to a week before sowing to warm up the soil .

April

• Keep horticultural fleece on standby (cold snaps).
• Keep weeds down by hoeing.
• If March was not suitable to plant due to weather – time to plant (potatoes /beans/etc..).
• Maybe think about protecting your crops by using net cloches .

May

• Keep weeds down by hoeing.
• Thinning out directly sown seedlings i.e carrots, parsnips and other root crops.
• Plant, plant, plant!.

June

• Keep weeds down by hoeing.
• Check your crops and thin if necessary.
• If it is a dry month water your crops ( How and when to water your crop? ).
• Your netted cloches are in full action to protect against the birds (not for all plants).
• Keep sowing if you still require it.

July

• Water as necessary then water some more!
• Mulching with a layer of organic matter (OM) (slugs love OM so watch out!).
• Check out seeds that can be planted at this time of year (beetroot, carrots, spring onions).
• Look out for blight, which might attack your tomatoes and potatoes.
• Fertilizing now may help boost your crops.

August

• Watch out for blight on your potatoes.
• Add green manure to areas that no longer have crops.
• Keep on top of the pests.
• Keep watering.
• Keep weeding.

September

• You can still sow some hardy vegetables (winter lettuces/spring onions).
• Watch out for fungal diseases and pests.
• Fork over the potato area.
• Keep watering (if needed).
• Keep weeding (if needed).

October

Preparation for next year’s crop by turning over soil (aeration of soil / double digging )
Add organic matter to soil
Keep weeding (if needed)
Make a leaf bin
Spread and dig in well rotted leaf mould (OM)

November

Consider planting vegetable varieties that require sowing now and will survive winter temperatures e.g. Garlic, broad beans and some onion varieties

Repeat October’s work

December

Order your seeds
Start looking for seed potatoes

The above is only one way of planning your yearly crop. For a more thorough guide, I strongly recommend reading: Vegetable Growing: Month By Month by John Harrison .

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