Sowing lettuces and cabbages; planting out onion sets and seedlings if well rooted and the weather is ok

This is the plan and what we managed in 2023.

Plant out onion sets - we did this
Plant out radish seedlings - we did this Week 3
Plant out broad beans - we will leave this until Week 5
Plant out gutter peas -  we will leave this until Week 5
Plant out spinach seedlings if they are well rooted - we did this

Early planting outside if not too wet:

See the Cropping Plan in the menu.

If you have spaced more generously it will not matter, just a little less room for other crops.

The Instagram posts have lots of good photos/videos.

Onions – ‘sets’ rather than seeds
See the article on onion sets.

Broad beans - see the article on broad beans

Radish modules - see the radishes article for more information about planting out

Spinach -  See the article on spinach.

Early sowings inside: lettuces and cabbages

There is a very good video from Charles Dowding on early sowings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmyD2iyB-FU

• See the lettuces and cabbages article, in Veg Course Crops, which has information about sowing.
• As with previous lessons, examples of the various stages of sowing will be on the bench for you to see and copy.
• Use the small seed tray which is half the size of a full size tray.
• Fill with well-firmed compost and water thoroughly.
• Even a small seed tray can hold hundreds of seeds and seedlings so sow thinly.
• We will sow several types of lettuce and one row of 'Greyhound' cabbage (not labelled in photo) in a seed tray.
• Lightly cover the seeds with a thin layer of dry compost.
• Germination will be aided with a little heat at home but they should germinate in the poly tunnel

The photo below is from a previous year.  In 2023 we sowed cabbages rather than red salad bowl lettuce.