Total newbie

[GWLF]

Hi all

I am a total beginner at all this, but know a bit about forums and how helpful they can be, so hope I get some replies!

We have just got a half plot allotment, and have cleared three or four rows (thankfully it wasn't too overgrown!) and want to get some vegs in before the end of the summer. I fancy spuds, spinach, onions and garlic, and possibly carrots and parsnips. That should pretty much fill the space while we clear the rest of the patch.

But I have been googling where to get these and not getting a great deal of luck. It seems spuds aren't available at the moment. Onions seem to be OK. So do I get seeds for the other things and plant them at home in trays before moving them to the allotment (and the slugs and wildlife that are no doubt awaiting them?)

It's a horribly general set of questions I know, but any advice on where to start would be appreciated. I would also like to find a good nursery in the area (Kingston upon Thames) so advice on a local one would be good.

Many thanks!

[alan refail]

Hi GWLF

And a warm welcome to the forum. Never apologise for the questions you ask - there will always be a ready answer.

Forget potatoes - these need to be planted from next March into April.

It's too early for garlic to overwinter.

What you could think of for starting now from seed are leaf beet, spring cabbage chicory and endive, winter lettuce, pak choi and Japanese mustards, radish (summer and winter) and various winter salads such as lamb's lettuce, miners' lettuce, salad rocket, wild rocket.

Watch this space and I'm sure more suggestions will come flooding in.

Pob lwc - Best of luck

Alan

[GWLF]

Thanks Alan - I felt I had come to the right place

That's some good starting points so thanks!

[glallotments]

You can also wait a little while around October and then buy some onions to plant for overwinter.

[Mike Vogel]

If you can find any leek seedlings, say at a market or an allotment shop, these would do well if planted now. I usually plant mine where I have grown early potatoes; then, when I have dug up the maincrop, I use part of that land for garlic.

July and August are also the months for planting out brassica seedlings for spring harvest. See if you can find anyone selling or giving away purple sprouting broccoli and/or purple and white cauliflower plants. They should be be about 6 inches high.

Winter salad crops are also a good idea. Have you thought of winter radishes? Black Spanish Round is a great-tasting variety and should be sown now or early to mid- September.

From August onwards you can also sow green manures for digging in in the spring. These are crops you use not to eat but to nourish the soil. My favourite is Phacelia, because it grows fast and in bulk and, although it isn't said to be, I have found it winter-hardy. A nitrogen-fixing plant such as Winter Tares or Field Beans will be a good idea for where you want to grow summer-harvest brassicas next year.

It is best not to let green manure plants flower, or they'll keep on seeding. If they look like doing so before the frosts knock them back, chop them down and let the vegetation rot down. The dig the plants in in spring about a month before sowing or planting out your brassicas. This technique stops leeching [the process whereby rain takes valuable nutrients down into the subsoil where plants won't be able to reach them] and also gives the bed a rich vegetable manure.

The Organic Garden Catalogue is where I get my green manures from, but to tell the truth any good seed company will provide them.

Good luck with your project; I have found it keeps me fit as well as on a healthy diet.
mike

[GWLF]

Thanks for the replies - some good ideas there. Any ideas for good nurseries in the SW London/Surrey area welcome!