Get things to grow at the same time

Nothing grows to set times, and you can't plan "ready dates". Successional planting will mean such as carrots will come ready at different times to give an overlap with other crops. Basically, don't sow all of any one type of veg all at once to allow a wider spread of harvest

What crops and how many of each would you like to have ready at the same time?

Jake

Why not pick a date and plan back from that? How about Christmas dinner?

By no means do I know what you could plant but I might try this to see if it works.

Stu


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You have to do things the other way round when you grow your own. Instead of deciding what you want to eat and then going to pick it, you have to see what's ready and then decide what you can make with it. You just have to get a bit creative and swap in/replace things that aren't available with things that are.

Shadylane is right, even with gregreatt planting our British weather will always throw suprises our way making nothing a certainty.

I raise (pretty much) everything in pots and plant out, rather than sowing "a row" of anything direct. A row of Lettuce, to me, is no use as we can't eat them all when they mature. Things like Cauliflowers will "stand" for perhaps a fortnight from first-ready to going-over. We can eat about 4 Cauli's in a fortnight, so I raise 4 Cauli plants on 1st and 15th of each month during the sowing-season (similarly half a dozen Lettuce and so on).

Veg patch looks like a patchwork quilt! so won't suit those who like nice straight rows etc

Many will say that this method is More Faff to raise, and plant out, but I think its Even Stevens: I can sow evenings / when it is raining, plants in 9cm pots have a good 2 week window for planting out, so easy enough to fit in with my work, and when planted out the plants are already, say, 6 weeks old so steal a march on weed seeds (compared to sowing seed direct). I am on heavy clay, it is usually difficult (this year impossible!!) to get on the soil early, so raising plants also means I don't need the soil to be ready until 6 weeks later [than if I sowed direct]. I do have greenhouse though.

I have a spreadsheet of how many I planted, and on what date, for the last umpteen years such that now I am pretty much doing what I did last year ... and the year before ... so I can just crank the handle each season. In the early years I recorded notes in my spreadsheet along the lines of "Need more/less" and Family hated/loved that" and adjusted Qty sown, the following year, accordingly.

And you do get very inventive, as to 'ways to cook with veg, and pasta and rice. ' it makes you look at different ways of cooking veg, and of course, other Grapes, are doing the same thing so lots of advice and sharing of ideas and recipes.

Really don't think you can plan too much, cos every year us different, what fails one year, does well the next

I tend to go and have a look at what is ready, then pick it and come into the house and invent something!

Me to, what you should have said Ancee is invent something amazing !

Is it still possible to crest meals using bare minimal shop brought products though


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Of course it is Jake. What do your meals usually consist of?

They taste even better, cos you are adding good home grown TASTY, veg, the flavour is just so much better.

I'm a vegetation and only eat whole wheat products due to medical reasons last yr was very hit and miss but then I didn't start till May as did t get my. Allotment till end of April I'm planning a lot more salad stuff this yr so should have more veg to play


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Depending on what you like there are a few quick and easy things you can grow to bulk up a salad.
If you have a few window stills or a greenhouse with space peashoots are great. I normally fill up a few seed trays with 1" of compost a handful soaked dried peas (the supermarket dried ones at ~£1/kg) they take about a month for the first cutting, but for other cuttings (about 3 cuttings per batch) its only a week or so.
Radishes are great as they only take about a month, oriental greens are a big favourite of mine they grow fast and most of cut/pick and come again.
Not exactly growing but sprouting is a nice way of producing bulk for a salad, a table spoon of alfalfa seeds will produce a lot of sprouts and only take a few days.