I guess we will all be able to plant the seasonal veggies soon, if the rain stops raining and the ground stops flooding! I hope you have all weathered that out ok and are safe and dry.
If you are in the position to start planting, here are some quick ideas for some popular, easy to grow veg:
Broccoli – plant seed directly into the garden bed or start in small pots for transplanting later. If your soil is good, just add a heavy layer of old hay or straw. Adding too much fertilizer causes a lot of leefy growth.
Carrots – plant in an open, sunny, well-drained bed. If planting seeds, don’t add manure or fertilizer as the roots will fork.
Cauliflower – again, sow seeds directly into the garden bed, or in a hot house to transplant later. You can water these seedlings with a weak solution of sodium molybdate, to reduce the issue of whiptail. You can feed these plants with lots of mature animal manure.
Celery – best to sow the seeds in pots and transplant when ready. When ready, heavily lime the soil and give them plenty of water, you can’t overwater celery.
Lettuce – store the seeds in the fridge for a day or so (if the weather is hot), and then sow into the garden and thin out as they grow, so there is about 150mm between the plants.
Onions – they like soil that has lots of lime. Spring onions can be planted at almost any time.
Peas – plant seeds 50mm deep in well-limed soil. They like a well-drained bed with plenty of organic matter in the soil.
Tomatoes- plant seeds or seedlings now. They like good quality soil, without fertilizer or lime.
Zucchini - plant in a sunny position in well-manured soil.
Hopefully you will soon have tables of home grown produce to enjoy.
Peter