[pgkevet]

If I can't eat it I'm not growing it apart from a few geraniums in tubs that can survive neglect.

I'm only going to grow twice as much as I need (I say that every year).

If it invlves crawling to pick or weed then I'm thinking twice.. 'cept gotta do onions. So fewer dwarf f beans..more climbing.

Dont srgue with OH.. this year I'm sowing red mange toute so when she whinges they're not the mange toute I've got her.

Only plant a dozen toms in the greenhouse.. they and peppers/aubergines already sown. And leeks well germinated

So as much direct as possibe.. all that planting out is backache.. but broad beans in modules today and a few lettuce. Must do some tubs of spring onion - germinate indoors, then greenhouse then move outside. Keep the greenhouse tidy and spaced. An early courgette in there then rip it out and use the ones outdoors.

Bet i go mad whe it comes to it though. Top-up seeds ordered today (with restraint)

[Lesley Silvester]

The best laid plans of mice and men.... 

[Clarebelle]

This is year is one huge experiment for me! It will be our first growing season up here, last year we had pigs on the veg patch to clear it and this year we will be growing our first lot of veg in it! I have no idea how much to plant of each stuff in order to feed the family so it's going to be a bit hit and miss but I can't wait!! 

[bloomer]

im on my first year, im in a new location and have a 5m x 5m plot i can use so i will skip the stuff that needs lots of room like main crop potatoes and onions and will concentrate on the yummy stuff that we like to eat.


planting list is
leeks
runner beans
french beans
carrots
beetroot
chard
various salad stuff
parsnips
mange tout
courgettes
squashes
we are in fife so having to learn the timings for stuff here, so far all we have done is put some leek seeds in on a cool window sill...


veg bed is nearly prepped, mid march some early salad potatoes will go into big pots as i love them but don't have room in the main bed...


its all very exciting i'm keeping a detailed log this year so hopefully i can learn from my mistakes next year...

[Anke]

Bloomer unless you are very sheltered I wouldn't bother with courgettes and squashes outside...

Wind also plays havoc with French beans...

I seed all my beetroot into individual small pots and then plant out when true leaves come out (but not leave it too late as won't grow when pot-bound).

[devonlady]

If you can, grow everything in modules inside. You can then plant them out when the weather is suitable.

[cloddopper]

I've spent this afternoon out in the  office man cupboard sorting out the seeds to see if I need any more for this year.
 i have my seeds in  air tight plastic containers  , mini bottles or  test tubes each container is numbered according the the holder it sits in

 This morning I found I had a total of 137 containers , quite a lot had seed that should have been sown in  2012 & 2013 .. ( thankfully I have a decent seed viability chart so know I can use a lot of the seeds a heck of a lot later than the Seedhouse's use by dates.  though i think I was pushing it a bit to think I can still sow parsnips ,celery and anything left over from  from 2011 especially any  flower seeds
That meant I've had to have a bit of a clear out of every too old seed and reorganisation of the lists , I don't yet have a complete viability list for the flowers .

 So far I've ended up with 68 containers of seeds 52 of veg seeds & 16 of flowers , I still have to put the peas & beans in bulk boxes tomorrow .
Oce all that is done I'll update my eXcel worksheets and print off my sowing lists then heat seal them up
 From these lists I make a master A3 sized planned that shows simple different coloured lines for periods to sow pot on and harvest  for veg  and a separate one for flowers
 each line across has the container ref number , the crop the variety and then a small square for each wek of the years . When I sow things  I pop an "S" in that weeks square , pot on or plant out is a "P" & the harvest section is left as a full coloured line without an " H" .
Everything sown gets a 9 " long home made plant label made from some old cut up white square rainwater down pipe . Most of which are now about five or six  years old and are re used every year .

 Some folk say that's a lot of effort,   but with the effects of a stroke , disabilities kicking off  and old age I find it's the only way to keep tabs on things .
 

[pgkevet]

I am careful with seed stock. It gets kept in my hobby shed whch is very dry and frost free. I'm cutting down on label use 'cos i hate to find stray labels all over the farm. Those that i do use are mostly recycled.

Some of my seed is pretty old but I usually sow in modules with that sort of stuff..unavoidable for many early crops despite the desire to sow direct - so can resow if poor germination. With the older seed I tend to put 2 or 3 per module and select to strongest cos i hate pricking out.

A reality is that even for the two of use the numbers are scary - I want/need 200 cobs so sow 200 sweetcorn - a few fail, some get eaten by pheasants. lots get eaten raw and fresh and the scrappy ones go to the chickens. Average 2 cobs per plant leaves me what i want ina  good season.

The onions in storage are now down to every other one is going off.. still 2 large nets-full in the barn - so looks lie it's another 5-600 onion sets this year.

I did 200 leeks last year and there's still some in the field but a lot bolted - so this year I'll do an early and a middle batch of seedlings.

I had slow carrot germinatio last year and kept sowing new rows.. ended up with about 60 meters of carrots - and boy, there's plenty out there still and that's despite the sheep getting n and eating most of the tops and then other animals nibbling the crowns off the roots. but the roots left are still fine if the tops and trimmed away. Out of 40 metres of parsnips I still have about 10 metres left.

But I have some 50 red cabbage that ended up rotting in the field, 30 odd cauliflower I  just couldn't eat fast enough and so on. There's till bags of curly kale, savoy, brussel tops, psb etc out there and I'm stil eating frozen broad beans and other beans.