It’s that time of year again when I find myself knee deep in seed packets, deciding what to plant and where.
The challenge for me is deciding what vegetables to grow and how many of them.
For the past two seasons we’ve ended up with what seems like thousands of courgettes and broad beans. I’m also not very good at succession planting to ensure a continuous crop.
Today I sat down with a cup of tea (and some After Eights left over from Christmas) to plan the vegetable beds for the year ahead.
I’ve decided to grow fewer types of vegetable but more of what we like.
This year there will be:
- Spinach
- Purple Sprouting Broccoli
- Courgette
- Celery
- Pak Choi
- Asparagus
- Onions
- Shallots
- Leeks
- Radish
- Spring Onion
- Lettuce
- Sweetcorn
- Broad Beans
- Potatoes
- Beetroot
- Celeriac
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Chilli
- Pepper
- Melon
- Kiwi
- Blackcurrants
- Greengages
- Cherries and
- Rhubarb…phew, that really is less than last year, honest.
I really love growing my own vegetables each year, it’s so satisfying to see something transform from seed. It’s also brilliant to be able to nip out into the garden to get what you need for supper, but to also plan your meals around what is ready and ripe that day, and it really does change from day to day.
At the weekend I made my first batch of sowings, many of which are in propagators in the kitchen. It’s in March when the biggest batch of sowings happen, but with the greenhouse cleaned, pots prepared and compost ready I feel well prepared.
