Veg plot

Hi all, I'm just starting a veg plot which will be ready feb or March.
When would be the best time to sow carrots, peas, potatoes etc things for a nice Sunday roast should I sow them and put in a greenhouse until spring?

 

Apparently you can grow carrots indoors at any time, or so I read, but I've never tried it.

I usually sow peas no earlier than mid March. They grow very quickly.
Spuds, again mid march at the earliest I'd say. They are not frost hardy, but of course the tuber is under the soil so it is protected from frost, but if it pokes its head up before frost has passed, it will suffer damage. I can't see how you could start spuds off in the greenhouse and plant out though. With spuds, its all about the roots, which grow very quickly. The new tubers (spuds) only appear in the last stages and grow very rapidly once the plant decides the time is right, but I's still be reluctant to attempt transplanting them.

 

Quite a good sowing, transplanting, harvesting calendar-chart here:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Media/PDFs/Grow-Your-Own/VegPlanner

Worth checking and instructions on the back of the packets too as early/late etc. varieties do vary, as does being further North/South

 

@clueless1 thanks! Will try the carrots inside and let you know.

@Kristen that's perfect! Thank you

 

I'm starting my first veg patch this year too, so this has been really useful for me as well. My biggest dillemma is deciding what I want to plant!

 

Plant ONLY what you like to eat
Favour things that are high-cost in Supermarket - Runner Beans, Soft Fruit
Also favour things with good flavour - e.g. Sweetcorn - that deteriorates with time (2-3 days for them to get TO supermarket and THEN to YOUR home).
Add to that specific varieties that you like the flavour of (but which are hard/impossible to buy in the shops)

 

Potatoes - If you grow spuds in a grow bag instead of directly into the ground then you can start them off in the greenhouse earlier and then move the bag outside at a later date when the risk of frost has passed

carrots - i grew mine in large tubs so that i could provide the soil type i wanted. I mixed general compost, sand and soil together. This helps the carrots push down easily stopping any kinks or weird shapes. It also helps drainage. I covered mine with fleece. If it was a smaller tub then you could cover with a cloche.

peas - a tip that i once saw and tried, get a piece of spare/discarded gutter and block each end. Fill with compost and then sow the seeds and water. Cover with cling film until they have sprouted. You then build a trench outside on your plot when the weather has warmed up. Remove one of the ends off of the guttering and slide the soil as one piece carefully into the trench trying to avoid disturbing the roots. Then just gently firm in.

 

That will just be potatoes then lol. Which I definitely do intend to grow - just need to choose which varieties. And raspberry and gooseberry canes. I wish I did like more vegetables but I really don't. Swedes, turnips, leeks and onions are fine as I use them in soups and stews and I quite like fresh carrots and raw peas. My OH likes runner beans and sweetcorn so I may try them. We both love sprouts. I'll have tomatoes and cucumbers in the green house.

I guess I've answered my own question then but it was good to have you put it into perspective for me. No point growing things that aren't going to be eaten.

 

Other than First Early they are not a value crop, and grown-to-store (rather than grown-to-pick-and-eat), such as with Main Crop varieties, you are better buying from Farm Shop equivalent in Winter; the farmers will have excellent cool storage, so their's won't be sprouting mid winter - whereas, when I used to grow-and-store, mine always did :( and they went "soft" by mid Winter :( :(

Dunno about in France, but here in England Garden Centres put out seed potatoes to buy "loose", which makes it easy to buy 2 or 3, or 5 tubers of each variety you want to try, grow them carefully labelled, and make a taste test. A lot will depend on your local growing conditions and soil, and also your personal preference of course. I buy online and they sell packs of 5 tubers, as well as 2.5kg bags and larger, and each year I buy a couple of 5-packs of varieties other people have raved about to see what we think of them. We still grow the same 3 variates, every year, that we always have done!

Have you eaten them "fresh"? (Markets in France have very fresh, locally grown, produce - rarer to find in UK, so I'm guessing you have). But if not you might be surprised by the taste you get from home-grown. My Family tell me that they HATE - with a vengeance! - Sprouts, but every Christmas we have some with the meal and the family say how nice mine are. But that they still say they hate Sprouts! I am sure that was as a result of old, tired veg cooked to destruction in school meals!

That sounds like a use for vegetables that are tired and past their sell-by-date (although beautiful soups can be made from fresh veg of course). No offence intended. Fresh veg, straight from the garden, is different IMHO.

Runner Beans much loved in UK, but my family don't love them. I grow a few plants, they are so productive that they are handy at weekend BBQ lunches. We prefer French Beans, in particular Flat French Bean varieties. The seed is readily available in France IME, but harder to find in the UK (I grow a variety from Suttons called Limka) (your husband may find the flavour not strong enough). I prefer the climbing French beans, to the Dwarf, as they are less back breaking to pick! and we grow predominately the Flat ones, but also the more conventional tubular French beans.

My tips for Sweetcorn are:

Only grow one variety. If you have neighbours nearby growing Sweetcorn find what variety they are growing and grow the same one. Cross pollination can wreck the sweetness.

Grow a super-sweet variety. They have been bred for short-season in the UK, so not sure what you have in France as your summer is longer. Get some seed from UK if necessary. Great flavour, not much productivity per unit-area though.

Pick and immediately cook. We have the water boiling on the stove before we pick. (The sugar starts turning to starch the moment they are picked, which is why Supermarket Sweetcorn will never taste as sweet)

Amen to that!

 

Thank you so much for your response Kristen (and apologies to Rob for hi-jacking his thread.)

Thanks again Kristen, I really do appreciate the help and advice. If I do have a glut of anything I can share with a couple in the village who are disabled and can't do much in the way of gardening but do love their fresh vegetables.