Empty beds

[muddled]

The beds earmarked for my sweetcorn are offending me!
I can't bear that they stay empty until the end of May.

Is there anything you can think of that I can sow now and harvest before then?
We're talking about nine weeks, ten at the absolute most...from sowing the seeds to clearing the bed.

[muddled]

I should add that these beds were manured heavily in the autumn.

[Martin H]

You could sow some green manure to hold in the fertility until the corn is ready to go in? That Caliente mustard stuff grows quickly, for example.

[Snadger]

Three sisters,pumpkin/squash,french beans and sweetcorn I'm sure there will be Three Sister threads somewhere on here!

[mothhawk]

Kohl rabi only takes 8 - 10 weeks from sowing to harvesting, or you could scatter some cheap cabbage seeds and just harvest them as leafy greens when you're ready to plant out the sweet corn.

[Penellype]

Plenty of quick cropping leafy greens, particularly if you give them a head start by sowing in pots and planting out later. Cabbage greens, lettuce, mizuna, pak choi and other oriental greens, spinach and turnips spring to mind. Leeks transplant easily so you could start these off here and move them in May.

Alternatively you could do what I do and plant things (eg potatoes) in buckets which can use the area as a temporary holding place until other beds occupied by things like PSB are cleared. I always have a few floating buckets tucked into vacant spaces because there is always an overlap between spring planted and summer planted crops. If you plant first earlies like Rocket in buckets now and protect them with cloches you can be eating new potatoes in late May or early June. You just need to keep a close eye on frost forecasts once the leaves start to emerge.



Potatoes in buckets under a cloche and fleece in April last year, replaced later by courgettes.

[Lisasbolt]

I would get lots of leafy bits in there, spring greens, quick cropping salad leaves, radish, baby beets

[sparrow100]

Is it worth chancing some early spuds? Or like Martin says, green manure? I've started some beetroot in the greenhouse to go out when things are a bit friendlier outdoors.

[arch01]

Spinach? One can never have too much spinach, or at least I think so.

[bario1]

Broccoli raab?

[vixylix]

definitely radish and lettuce, chives?

[arch01]

definitely radish and lettuce, chives?

oh how did i forget the radish!

[AkionTotocha]

Broccoli raab?

There is a 60 day version in your easy veg garden mag atm

[KevinM67]

I know London is generally warmer than the rest of the UK - but are overnight temperatures at adequate levels there yet to sustain anything growing outside, even with fleece, cloches, etc.

We've had some wonderful sunny days here in Hull recently - but nippy at night, and wake up to frost most mornings.