Find out what vegetables I’m growing this year in my plans below. This year I’m using seeds bought from previous years and seeds bought from MoreVeg.co.uk and Potato tubers and Shallots bought from SimplySeed.co.uk

iGrowVeg Plot Plans 2011

Please view my Plot Plans below or click here to view the document.

If you need help and advice on Planning Your Own Vegetable Garden, please view my 7 Part Series listed below to help you start your vegetable growing year.

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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In the months of July and August in the UK, you will now now need to be thinking about winter vegetables. Sow seeds by late August for the vegetables that you will want harvest in the next few months and into next year.

Action Plan

1. Check seed catalogues and online websites for autumn and winter growing vegetables,
2. View my Winter Vegetable Growing Guides for inspiration on what to grow,
3. Read my tips on Vegetable Seeds to Sow in July, August, September, October and November for seeds and sets to plant out in the next few months,
4. If you want to know what vegetables will be ready to harvest at Christmas – please view my 3 Part Series – The 12 Vegetables of Christmas.

Planning for Winter Vegetables

Thats right, its out with the pencils and paper or logging back into PlanGarden.com to renew your vegetable garden plans for the next few months.

Step 1 – Work out which areas are free to sow seeds in

Step 1 - Draw your Plot

With the vegetables already growing in your plot, write down the approx months they will be ready to harvest to see how much space you will have left to sow/plant your winter vegetables.

If there are vegetables almost dying off and ready to be pulled out, use this space in your plan to sow winter vegetables.

For example:
In Plot 1, I have:

• Onions – ready to harvest,
• Mange Tout – dying off,
• French Beans – producing beans,
• Kohl Rabi, Kale and Broccoli – Seedlings.

Mange Tout – As the mange Tout is dying off, it will be ready to pull out in a few weeks, I will mark this area as blank space for winter sowings.

Onions are ready to harvest, they were being stored in the ground so again they will be harvested and this area marked as blank space.

French Beans are currently being harvested but there’s still tiny beans growing so it will be a while before they are harvested, I’m guessing mid August at the earliest. This is ok because onion, shallots, broad beans and peas can be sown or planted in October and November so this space could be used for that purpose.

If you didn’t want to leave the soil bare for 1 or 2 months, radishes or loose leaf lettuces can still be sown now for you to harvest in September.

Kohl Rabi, Kale and Broccoli Seedlings – This space will be marked as taken for the rest of the year. I would probably use this space to sow next years very early carrot sowings in February.

Step 2 – Things To Consider

New Cloche on Raised Beds

Crop Rotation
If you are considering Crop Rotation, please refer back to Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types to help you plan for a change in your plots as this is the best time to do it before winter sowings are made.

Cloche Cover
As the weather and temperatures get colder from late September to October onwards in the UK, it is worth making or buying a cloche to cover your vulnerable vegetables throughout the winter until spring when the ground warms up again. Cloches made from enviromesh or horticultural fleece are valuable as they don’t allow frost to penetrate to your vegetables. These netting materials are widely available and on Ebay.

Pests and Diseases
Before sowing your winter vegetables or covering your area with a cloche, check other plants in your area for pests and diseases. Identify whether they could be a problem to the crop you are growing or will they be under control by the time a cloche is used. Otherwise the pest or disease may spread to your other plants. For example Caterpillars can be a pest problem in late summer to autumn.

Step 3 – Extra Care Needed in Winter

Frost

Frosty Leaf

Please read my post on The affects of Snow, Ice and the Cold on your Vegetable Garden to find out the advantages and disadvantages of harsh weather.

To find out your Frost dates, please use these external links:

• UK Frost Dates by Town,
• USA Frost Dates by State,
• Australia Frost Dates by Town.

Snow

Snow is a danger to vegetables especially as it can freeze into ice and expand and contract when melted. It should also be removed as soon as possible from cloches as they may cause them to collapse under the weight.

Please click here for more information on the 10 Vegetables That Can Survive the Snow.

If you have missed any of the Parts in my Planning Your Vegetable Garden Series, please see below:

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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Months To Start Seed Sowing

The best time of the year in the UK to start sowing vegetables is Spring which is the months of Late March, April and May. Of course your action plan can be put into motion at anytime of the year as there are always vegetables you can start sowing.

For more details on which months to sow what vegetables,
please see my Vegetable Seeds To Sow By Month Series.

Putting Your Vegetable Plan into Action

You will need:

1. Motivation
   Once you’ve taken that first step in sowing some seeds, you’ll have the motivation to carry on especially when you see your first seedlings appear and harvest your first vegetables,
2. The strength to succeed in case of crop failure
   Remember regardless of the issue (and you will encounter a problem at some point) like pests, diseases, human error, the best thing you can do is try again!
3. Willingness to Learn
   Growing vegetables is definitely a fun learning curve, its great to share tips as you grow,
4. Courage to try different things
   Expand your horizons by trying different germination methods like soaking seeds to growing in different pots or growing different types of vegetable.
5. Experimentation
   Things like spacing in raised beds is an experiment to me, I don’t follow any books or seed packets as I know I can sow small and leafy vegetables quite close together to save space.

In return by growing your own vegetables, you will receive:

• Growing Skills – seed sowing and growing tips, learning skills to share with others,
• Enjoyment – seeing your first seedling or harvesting your first vegetable – what can I say, its addictive,
• Frustration – when dealing with pests and diseases,
• Knowledge – overcoming pest problems, growing organically, trying different things next season,
• Achievement – you have sown the seed that produces a harvest for you, your family and friends,
• Satisfaction – sowing seeds, caring for your growing vegetables until harvest in the know that growing your own vegetables is worth every bite.

How to Transfer your Plan on Paper or Online to Your Vegetable Plot or Raised Bed.

1. If you are adding organic fertiliser, you will need to do this 2 to 4 weeks before sowing your first seeds,
2. If you’ve forgotten to add fertiliser, just add a whole bag of multi-purpose compost and rake the surface level,
3. Whilst adding new compost, add a top dressing around plants already in your beds to give them a soil boost, (my broad beans love this)
4. Refer to your vegetable garden plan and calculate the number of rows you can put in your plot, this is where you may have to adjust your plan by increasing/reducing the number of rows you are sowing,


Plan your rows around other plants

5. Mark your rows onto your raised beds with a trowel or bamboo cane, working round any plants already in your plot
6. Check the depth of your markings with your seed packet instructions
7. Give your rows a good watering before sowing your seeds
8. Important: Label your rows with plant labels (you can buy large T Labels from Ebay) and make sure you note down how many rows of each vegetable type you have sowed, where on your plan and date sown.

Now your ready to Sow your Seeds!

If you have missed any of the Parts in my Planning Your Vegetable Garden Series, please see below:

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List includes a bumper 4 Free Downloads! these will inspire, encourage and help you on your way to sowing your first seed in a well planned and thought out vegetable garden.

My downloads contain my colourful vegetable plot plan designed on PlanGarden.com (Part 3b), completed Seed List (Part 4) and quick glance vegetable plan with sowing notes (Part 5), all in printable formats so you can download and keep.

Vegetable Seed Highlights

The following list is some of the best vegetables I’ll be growing this year and my reasons for choosing to sow them. Click on the vegetable varieties for more details on the seeds and where to buy them.

1. Beetroot – Moneta from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
   Sow: February to July
   Harvest: July to November
   Reasons to Grow: Seeds can be sown early and one seed equals one plant which means no thinning is required if you plant them at spaced intervals. Some beetroot seeds are clusters of 3-4 seeds in one pellet, which if all germinate need to be thinned at a later stage.
2. Broccoli – Spike from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
   Sow: April – May
   Harvest: August – September
   Reasons to Grow: Purple sprouting broccoli crops in 4 – 5 months, cropping lasts weeks.
3. Carrot – White Kuttiger from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
   Sow: May – August
   Harvest: August – November
   Reasons to Grow: White Carrot, mild flavour and long storage ability.
4. Chard – Golden from The Real Seed Catalogue.
   Sow: March – September
   Harvest: June – February
   Reasons to Grow: Bright yellow stems, vigorous, perfect for home gardens, good flavour.


Reddy Spinach

5. Lettuce – Flame from The Real Seed Catalogue.
   Sow: March – August
   Harvest: May – September
   Reasons to Grow: Pale green leaves turn redder as plant gets bigger, slow bolting.
6. Lettuce – Crisp Mint from The Real Seed Catalogue.
   Sow: March – August
   Harvest: May – September
   Reasons to Grow: Bright intensive green rosettes, crunchy crisp unusual lettuce.
7. Mange Tout – Golden Sweet from The Real Seed Catalogue.
   Sow: April – May
   Harvest: June – August
   Reasons to Grow: Purple flowers, lovely yellow pods, tall plants, crisp flavour.
8. Spinach – Reddy from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
   Sow: March to June
   Harvest: June to September
   Reasons to Grow: Sweet flavoured oval leaves with red stems.
9. Sweet Pepper – Tequilla Sunrise from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
   Sow: January to March under glass, plant out April to June
   Harvest: August to October
   Reasons to Grow: Long pointed fruits, yellow to golden orange in colour.
10. Tomato – Yellow Centiflor from The Real Seed Catalogue.
    Sow: February – April
    Harvest: July – November
    Reasons to Grow: New Centiflor vine tomatoes which have branched trusses up to 1-2 foot long with masses of flowers. Produces small pear shaped fruit on mass. Plants reach 1 foot tall. Fruit sweet.

Free Resources

iGrowVeg Vegetable Plot Plan 2010

iGrowVeg Veg Plan 2010

Description:
My vegetable plot plan covers 3 different sowing periods – January to April, April to July and August to December. Please view the January to April Plan to see what I’ll be sowing and harvesting in March/April.

iGrowVeg Veg Plot Plan 2010
File Size: 120 KB.

View before downloading here: iGrowVeg Veg Plot Plan 2010

Produce your own colourful vegetable plan online, read more in my Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online or
Go back to basics and sketch your plan on paper, here’s how in Part 3a – Drawing a Vegetable Plan.

iGrowVeg Vegetable Seed List 2010

iGrowVeg Seed List 2010

Description:
This is my chosen list of Vegetable Seeds with details of varieties, seed company, cost of seed, quantity and sow and harvest months.

iGrowVeg Seed List 2010
File Size: 48 KB.

View before downloading here: iGrowVeg Seed List 2010



Download my Free Seed List Template and read more in Part 4 – Choosing Your Seeds.

iGrowVeg Quick Glance Vegetable Plan with Sowing Notes (1)

iGrowVeg's Quick Glance Veg Plan 2010

Description:
My Quick Glance Vegetable Plan is a convenient reference point which I can take into the garden to remind me what has been sown where and what is to be sown next. This is Part 1. Part 2 will be released in April, Part 3 in August.

iGrowVeg Quick Glance Veg Plan 2010
File Size: 76 KB.

View before downloading: iGrowVeg Quick Glance Veg Plan 2010

Quick Glance Vegetable Plan with Sowing Notes Template

Quick Glance Veg Plan Template

Description:
Use this Quick Glance Vegetable Plan Template to record what vegetables you want to grow in your raised bed, pots or containers. Note down sowing or harvesting comments and add your sowing dates so you can calculate your harvest dates. Place in a plastic wallet and its ready to accompany you to your vegetable garden.

Quick Glance Veg Plan Template
File Size: 60 KB.

View before downloading: Quick Glance Veg Plan Template



iGrowVeg – Planning your Vegetable Garden Series

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

Don’t miss the next Part!
Sign up for my Monthly Newsletter or Email Alerts (every blog post is emailed to your inbox).

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In Part 3a and b you created your vegetable plot plan on paper or online and now you’ll need to choose what varieties of vegetables you would like to grow and buy for sowing.

Seed Catalogues 2010

1. Choose which seed companies you want to buy your seeds from.

Check out my Seed Supplier Catalogue Links to request paper catalogues or take a look at their online catalogues.

Its worth browsing online catalogues to check prices and ranges before choosing. I would say use a maximum of 4 suppliers so you don’t have to make too many purchases from different shops.

• Are you Growing Organically? Then check out The Organic Gardening Catalogue
• Are you looking for heritage or unusual seeds? Try Real Seeds or Seeds of Italy
• Are you not sure what to start growing? Try SowVegetables.co.uk Seed Collections.

The Real Seed Catalogue

2. Browse online or look through paper catalogues for vegetable varieties to grow.

Top Tips when Searching Catalogues

• Sweet Peppers and Chillies are sometimes found under the Capsicum Category,
• Mange Tout are sometimes listed under the Pea category,
• Perpetual Spinach may be listed under Leaf Beat which is its alternative name,
• Pak Choi and Chinese Lettuce might be found under Oriental Vegetables.

Take a look at any vegetable varieties that catch your eye in colour or shape. Then read the description for more details on the variety.
Please view my post What to Look for in a Good Variety? for more information.

Wording to look out for depending on your requirements:

• Early Maturing – will be able to harvest earlier than other varieties.
• Large Fruited or Long Podded – Bigger harvest, bigger plants, but may take longer to grow.
• Ideal or Suitable for Pots, Raised Beds – It is good to know if it is variety well suited for pots or raised beds.
• Good for Freezing – Worth looking for if you want to freeze your harvest to make it last longer,
• Compact Variety – Small growing plants, good for pots, small spaces or windy areas.
• Resistant to Bolting, Blight, Carrot Fly – Plants bred to be resistant to certain diseases.
• RHS Award of Garden Merit – An award that is given as it is an all round good plant to grow for home gardens.
• Recommended for Exhibition – A good variety to grow if you want to take to vegetable shows or exhibitions.
• Can be grown indoors or outdoors only – this usually applies to cucumbers, tomatoes and tender vegetables where specific varieties have been developed to survive in certain temperatures.

3. Write a list of the vegetable varieties you are interested in.

Write down a list of potential seed varieties that you are interested in, remembering to note the seed company and page number of the paper catalogue so you can find it again.

Free Resource – Veg Seed List Excel Template

Seed List Template

Description:
Create a computer copy of your vegetable seed list so you can easily check what seeds you have chosen and automatically calculate the price of your seed orders. This template allows you to add and remove vegetable seeds so that you can make a final decision on price and seed variety to buy.

Veg Seed List Template
File Size: 20 KB

Don’t worry if you haven’t got Excel, you can view and edit excel spreadsheets for free in Google Documents or OpenOffice.

Alternatively View and Print this Template with Google Docs Viewer here: Veg Seed List Template

This is a useful way of recording your seed orders, just in case you can’t remember where you put that notebook!

4. Finalise your list by checking the total price of your seeds.

This sometimes makes the decisions for you, you may have to remove or may want to add more seeds on your list.

5. Go ahead, you’re ready to buy those seeds!

Make a note of the date your ordered your seeds on your notepad or the excel Veg Seed List template so you can chase up the order/s if necessary. Then sit back and wait for those seed packets to arrive.

In my Next Post, I’ll be sharing what seed varieties I’ve chosen for my Vegetable Plan in 2010.

iGrowVeg – Planning your Vegetable Garden Series

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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PlanGarden.com

Highly Recommended by iGrowVeg

Description: A web application to design, plan, manage and share your vegetable garden.
Platform: Online or download available for Windows and Mac’s.
Price: Free Trial Account for 45 Days with access to all features. Then $20 (approx £12.50) for 1 year or $36 (approx £23) for 3 years.
No of Users: Approx 12,000 Worldwide.
Features: Easy to get started in mapping, planning and printing out your vegetable garden plan, good for square foot gardeners, odd shaped plots, raised beds and containers, allows you to label, add colour, shapes, titles, scales to any sized plan.

Other Excellent Features:

Patio Pots Plan

• Journal Log – records your sowings, harvests, weather, soil additions, pest problems and other general notes.
• Harvest Estimator – to help stagger crops for storage,
• Know What To Plant – very quickly tells you what vegetable to sow or harvest based on your local weather station.
• Vegetable Calculator – estimates your harvest weight on amount growing for different vegetables.
• Share your Garden – make your garden available for others to see on the site and find other gardens near you or worldwide on maps.
• Forum, Tutorials, Videos and Blog.

Signup Now for your Free 45 Day Trial to Start Planning Your Garden With PlanGarden

My Review:
I haven’t heard of Plan Garden before so I viewed their Quick 5 Minute Tour and it looked so easy to use. They offer a 45 day free trial (which I’ve still got 14 days to go, it lasts longer than you think) so there’s no reason not to sign up and give it a try.

I was very impressed by the My Stuff page which is the page you see when you login, it displays all the quick links you need to start planning and shows your account settings at first glance, which is very handy.

The best thing with this web software is everything is on the page where you can see it and not hidden away or in a help manual somewhere. It is very easy to use even if you are not technically minded.

I think PlanGarden goes that step further than other garden planning tools as it tracks your harvest, allows you to add notes about pests or the weather which you can refer to even up to a year later, share your plans with other users and find other garden plans in your local area to see what they are growing.

iGrowVeg PlanGarden Plan

There are options to save, print, email or take a snapshot of your vegetable plan. I really like the snapshot feature, which literally takes a photo of your vegetable plan on the screen.

PlanGarden has really wowed me with all its features, its colourful screens, ease of use and community spirit. I will definitely be using this fantastic tool to keep track of my harvests this year.

Please view my Plan above designed with PlanGarden (click to to enlarge).

iGrowVeg – Planning your Vegetable Garden Series

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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Its easy to plan your vegetable garden if you are starting with a blank canvas. However if you are starting with winter vegetables currently growing in your plot, I’ll also be showing you how to plant your new season sowings around whats already growing.

Planning your Vegetable Garden from Scratch – On Paper

You will need:

• Graph Paper or Plain Paper,
• Ruler,
• Pen,
• Colouring pencils (optional)
• List of Vegetables you’d like to grow.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Draw out the shapes of your vegetable plots on the graph or plain paper. You can use your own scale if you wish,

Step 1 - Draw your Plot

2. Start by grouping your vegetables into types, view Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types to learn more. Group into Roots, Brassicas, Legumes, Potatoes, Onions and Miscellaneous.

3. Add each group into your vegetable plots, its easiest to draw blocks in rectangles to represent the rows of vegetables.

Some vegetables like cabbages, broccoli, sweetcorn, potatoes, pumpkins require more room to grow than other vegetables so leave a larger sized rectangle or block to show they need more room.

Step 5 - Write in Vegetable Names

4. If you have small plots, you can split the beds into half and add two different types of vegetables in the same plot.

5. Either use a colour code or write the names of the vegetables in the blocks or rows.

6. If preferred, you can also add sow and harvest dates onto your plan.

Planning your Vegetable Garden – Creating a Plan around winter or already growing vegetables

If you are already growing winter vegetables for a spring harvest, the only thing you need to know is your vegetable harvest dates. Then you can easily plan your spring sowings around the other vegetables. Check out my Veg Plan Template below to make creating a plan for your vegetable garden even easier.

Free Resource – Veg Plan Excel Template

Veg Plan Excel Template

Description:

My Veg Plan Template offers an easy way to plan what you want to grow by using a current picture of your vegetable garden. Then by adding vegetable names, sow and harvest dates it is easy to work out a plan to fill the gaps and start spring sowings.

Veg Plan Template
File Size: 24KB

Don’t worry if you haven’t got Excel, you can view and edit excel spreadsheets for free in Google Documents or OpenOffice.

My Veg Plot Plan Template can be re-used as the season progresses, just use a picture of your vegetable plot in July, then you can plan for what to grow where in the winter months.

What’s Coming Next? Planning your Vegetable Garden – Part 3b
If you would like to create a more colourful and detailed plan online, please view my next Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online, where after checking out what the internet has to offer in vegetable planning software, I choose and review the best out of the rest.

iGrowVeg – Planning your Vegetable Garden Series

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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What can you grow? well any vegetable that you want to really. However as always there are a few factors that you need to bare in mind:-

• Space – Have you got enough room to grow them? compromises may have to be made to fit your desired vegetable into your plan like growing in pots, growing dwarf varieties or not getting too carried away and save it for growing next year!
• Light Levels – Some vegetables require a full sunny position and some can cope with semi-shade. Make sure you know your vegetable’s light needs and adjust your vegetables planned location accordingly.
• Length of Growing Period – Vegetables take different lengths of time to grow, this can vary from Radishes 4 – 6 weeks in spring to Parsnips 30 – 34 weeks which is most of the year. Choose a few of the quick growing and a few of the long growing vegetables to keep your harvests going throughout the year. This is where a plan can help so you know when the ground will be free to plant or sow another vegetable later on in the year.
• Watering Requirements – Vegetables like cauliflower require very regular watering and vegetables like Kale can survive through drought periods and do not require watering everyday. Watering is an important factor so you will need to consider if you are prepared or have enough time to look after cauliflower types of vegetables.
• Difficulty Growing Rating – As with any hobby when you are a beginner, you may not want to dive in at the deep end and grow a tricky vegetable that requires a lot of special care and attention. Its sometimes better to ease into the very easy, easy and medium levels of vegetable types and move on to the more tricky vegetables after you’ve got the hang of vegetable growing.

Please view my Free PDF document below which contains my How Easy Are Vegetables To Grow? Chart with difficulty ratings, lighting needs, soil type, location, watering, number of weeks to grow, popular pests and diseases and special attention notes.

Planning Your Vegetable Garden Series

Please click on the link below to download my Free PDF Document which is an accompaniment to the series.

PlanYourVegGarden Part 2

Description:
This part contains suggestions on how to choose vegetables to grow in your garden, How Easy Are Vegetables To Grow? chart with difficulty ratings, tips on caring for seedlings and space to note down the vegetables chosen to grow for Part 3.

Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
File Size: 572 KB

Alternatively view it online in Google Docs Viewer instead – Click here to view: Part 2 What Can I Grow?

iGrowVeg – Planning your Vegetable Garden Series

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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It’s 4 weeks to Christmas! If you are struggling to find ideas for that perfect Christmas gift for the vegetable grower, allotment holder or gardener in your family or friends, then look no further as I have designed and produced my Vegetable Growers Christmas Gift Guide for 2009.

iGrowVeg Vegetable Growers Gift Guide

It’s bursting at the seams with over 90+ gift ideas that would suit all ages and experiences (beginners or experienced). There’s plenty to choose from seed sowing collections, beginner growers gifts, garden tools, potting benches, mini greenhouses, plant stands and trugs for harvesting those freshly homegrown vegetables.

There’s also alternative Christmas gifts and credit crunch stocking fillers for under £10 and under £5. Now that’s a bargain!

Please click on the photo or link to browse the iGrowVeg.com Vegetable Growers Christmas Gift Guide 2009.

What do you think of my Vegetable Growers Gift Guide? What gifts are you going to be putting your wish list this year? Have you seen any other garden gifts you would recommend to others? Let me know by leaving your comments below or tweet me at @igrowveg on Twitter

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Crop Rotation
Crop rotation is moving your vegetable crops to a different location within your raised bed system or a different area within your allotment bed. It is worth planting or sowing your vegetables in groups of brassicas, legumes, onions, potatoes and root vegetables. If you have raised beds this is quite easy to group the above vegetables grown into one bed i.e. Brassicas in Plot 1, Legumes in Plot 2 etc. Crop Rotation is based on a 3 or 4 year rotation. Its handy if you have 3 or 4 separate beds or beds divided into 3 or 4 areas.

Vegetable Groups Explained

Brassicas

Include the following vegetables: Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprout, Chinese cabbage, Rapini, Kale, Mustard.

Legumes

Include the following vegetables: Peas, Runner Beans, Dwarf Beans, French Beans, Broad Beans, Snap Beans, Mange Tout, Lentils, Soya Beans.

Roots

Include the following vegetables: Carrots, Parsnip, Turnip, Swede, Beetroot, Radish.

Miscellaneous

can be added to any group: Spinach, Chard, Leek, Pak Choi, Chicory, Lettuce, Squash, Pumpkins, Tomatoes (but keep away from Potatoes due to Blight).

Onions and Potatoes can be grown in separate beds. Onions like Spring onions, onion sets, leeks can be grown together or grown with other root vegetables. Potatoes can be grown in their own bed or with any of the other types except Tomatoes as they can cause a cross contamination of blight as they are in the same vegetable family.

Exceptions: Turnip and Swede are in the Brassica family but are classed under the Roots group.

Reasons for Crop Rotation

• Diseases in the soil could be transferred onto your next crop. For example Clubroot in cabbages.
• To remove pests from the area – next years caterpillars may already be in your soil, it might be time to move your cabbages to another plot.
• To have a change of scenery – we all like to see a visual change in the garden from time to time,
• To enable the plot to be prepared ahead of time – between August and October is a period where summer vegetables have been harvested and winter veg hasn’t gone it yet or will be short lived like Pak Choi. Try and prepare the ground in advance with fertiliser or compost to replenish your soil for the next crop.
• Crop Rotation can actually increase the size and quantity of your crops, there maybe new weather or growing conditions in your new plot enough to make a difference at harvest time.
• The soil in your plot may currently be deficient of a particular nutrient especially if the same vegetable is grown every year in the same spot.

Free Resources

Please see below for a Free PDF Download packed with extra information on Crop Rotation and my crop rotation plans for this year,

Part 1 Grouping Vegetable Types

Description:
This is the introduction to planning your own vegetable garden where the different types of vegetable groups (Brassicas, Legumes, Roots and Miscellaneous) are explained and how to incorporate them into your vegetable garden and crop rotation plans. This also features my Crop Rotation plans for my raised beds for this year.

Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation
File Size: 1.1 MB.



Alternatively view it in Google Docs Viewer instead – Click here to View: Part 1 Grouping Veg Types

Stay tuned over the forthcoming months where I’ll be showing you the important points of planning your vegetable garden for your spring sowings in my ‘Planning Your Vegetable Garden’ Series.

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iGrowVeg – Planning your Vegetable Garden Series

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

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