lot of questions + garden planner

hi gardeners,

I have a load of questions about my new garden which my pop and i have renovated this year.

First of all, i am putting together an excel template that will help me plan my growing and what i need to do in the garden.
would anyone be kind enough to take a look at it? you'd be welcome to use it of course should you wish to.

here we are:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pfU7RTqvTY0RwwZp1PFOpQg
or you could download it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/223523122/Garden_Spreadsheet.xls.html

i have 3 sheets, the first one is to plan what is going on.
the second is to record what actually happens - if plants get diseased, if something wilts, if i notice something i could do better etc. etc.
one is full of ideas and questions for this forum, the fourth is a set of templates for how to grow each plant from seed. The idea being that i will have the entire lifecycle of a plant in these templates, so that i can copy and paste them into my planner according to the time and context i plant them into, and whereabouts in my garden they go. then i will know what requirements i will need to make for them in coming months each time.
I am not very familiar with excel, anyone even less familiar may find my jumble of words which follow a little confusing:

i understand that usually excel sheets aren't used to organise across a long section of rows, but instead tend to be used to calculate formulas in columns.
but i couldn't really figure out how i would manage the same thing in columns, mind is not creative enough and i'm not familiar enough with excel.
ideally i'd like to create a formula that positions my dates in the horizontal rows according to external factors like the first and last frost of the year...
i have taken rough standard first and last frost times for newcastle.


here are my main questions:
1. crop rotation over winter:

as most of my crop will be out by the end of autumn, i was wondering what other plants i can put in for over winter, according to the suggested rotation pattern of:
Root and Bulb > Fruit And Seed
Fruit and Seed> Leaf And Stem
Leaf And Stem > Root and Bulb

most of the literature i have read regarding crop rotation cites yearly rotation when it comes to this, but doesn't mention what can be planted for over the winter period, and whether planting over winter

1. what will I plant in after I am done growing what I have grown this year?

I have these in my raised beds:

Swede
Baby Carrot
Leeks
Carrots
Onions Early
Onions Late
Calabrese

Calabrese:

#NAME?
- One Guide says sew seed in May? â?? will this not make it bolt? â?? is this with the express intention of growing over winter and harvesting the next year?
- I have added to my calendar that these can go into pots in doors as seeds in feb (6-8 weeks before last frost)
#NAME?

Garlic:
I have these grown from cloves in autumn, however I grew them from ONE clove each, and now there is a huge sprout coming from just one clove. For some reason I thought the full garlic formed around the clove, I take it this is not true?

Lettuce: i planted this in left over grow bags over the autumn, i can't really understand why this is done, they barely grew, several died, and it seems that the small amount of growing they did was not worth much. are lettuce planted in autumn to allow for extra growth or is this the way they must be planted to produce adequate leaves the year after?
most pertinently, as i planted my lettuce in autumn, WHEN WILL I KNOW IF IT'S READY?

2. SEED SAVING:
i have some plans for Seed saving, but ideally i would like seeds from all of my crop:

Calabrese: I will let two flower so they can pollinate one another...

Potatoes - As i understand, if i allow a potato to go to seed the tubers will be inedible?
can i therefore not allow my taters to go to seed, save a tuber, and plant it somewhere else to go to seed next year? or will i need to purposefully plant a seed potato with the express purpose of allowing it to go to seed?

lettuce: if i leave one lettuce to go to seed, it will produce seeds, correct? it doesn't need another plant for pollination as i understand...?
i also have read that lettuce is likely to die if it is moved, but i would prefer to move the lettuce into a pot when it bolts so that i can sort out the garden again...

Carrots:
I have 2 breeds of carrot, baby and i suppose 'regular' but i don't have much more growing information on these. i plan to pull the plants i don't eat in august and put them in pots to go to seed next year.

Onions / leeks â?? I am going to dig up some of these at around july and transplant them into pots so that they might go to seed next year and i can save the seeds.

thanks in advance for everyone's time and thoughts.

best,
David

 

I've had a look, its a mass of data, but not what I would call "structured".

Excel doesn't have to be formulae, it can just be "cells" which you put information in, but its is anarchical - you can put what you like in a cell, so a spelling mistake is stored just like that, so you might not find all your Carrot data if one of them is wrongly spelt "Carot". For that you would need a database (and it would need to be written by someone who has experience, otherwise it will still let you enter a "Carot"

You are welcome to my spreadsheet if you like - it is only intended for Crop Recording, but as such has all the crops you are likely to grow - one per line - with a colour coded calendar for Sow/Plant/Harvest etc. and dates for you to record when you actually planted it.

Duplicate a row if you want two types, or successional sowings, of Carrot.

There is another thread about it over here:

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/should-long-20227.html?p=318826#post318826

There is also an image of my current crop plan (although it hasn't been updated for a few weeks!) on My Blog - that may answer your question about what you can grow over winter; its organised by rotation group, which may help with another of your questions. (You'll need to click on it and then possible choose Zoom to see the whole thing at normal typeface size)

"suggested rotation pattern of:
Root and Bulb > Fruit And Seed
Fruit and Seed> Leaf And Stem
Leaf And Stem > Root and Bulb"

I haven't seen it described that way before. The rotation groups in my link, above, are in the order I make them, so:

1. Onions / Leeks are followed by
2. Peas and Beans - they fix Nitrogen which is beneficial to a following crop of:
3. Brassicas (Cabbage / Sprouts)
4. Roots - Parsnips and Carrots come next - they should not have any Manure in the preparation of their soil
5. Spuds I treat as an additional rotation crop, but often it is included with Roots (although Spuds like Manure)
6. Sweetcorn

Rotation is fine in theory, the reality is that you won't need exactly the same area of soil for Spuds (which need a lot of space) as you will for each of the other crops. And you may not have space for more than 3 rotation "zones" anyway

"I have these grown from cloves in autumn, however I grew them from ONE clove each, and now there is a huge sprout coming from just one clove. For some reason I thought the full garlic formed around the clove, I take it this is not true?"

You plant individual cloves, and it grows to create a clump of new cloves - which you can split up and plant next year (or buy in fresh, disease free, cloves)

"i planted this in left over grow bags over the autumn, i can't really understand why this is done, they barely grew, several died,"

I agree! Worth doing in a cold greenhouse, but you need to be careful what variety you sow. I bought some Lettuce plants from the garden centre last Autumn, they all died in the cold / wet of the Winter, and presumably they were a variety totally unsuitable for winter growing and I am A Mug :( !!

"i have some plans for Seed saving, but ideally i would like seeds from all of my crop:"

I recommend you think about things that are Biennial. They will need to be in-situ for two seasons in order to flower & seed, and will muck up your crop rotation.

Its nice to grow your own seeds, but I for one definitely can't be bothered for Carrots and Brassicas ... beans are all right though, I just stop picking from a few plants towards the end of the season and they provide me with next year's seed!

"As i understand, if i allow a potato to go to seed the tubers will be inedible?"

I don't think that is right, unless I've misunderstood. Potato plants flower and when flowering finishes that is an indicator that the crop is ready for harvesting. But they die down fairly quickly after that anyway

You could keep the tubers and plant them next year, but most people don't because any hint of disease this year (i.e. that you may not have noticed) will wipe out your crop next year (particularly true with Potatoes which are very susceptible to virus and so on) - so I suggest best to buy certified-disease-free seed potatoes each year.

"if i leave one lettuce to go to seed, it will produce seeds, correct?"

Yes

"it doesn't need another plant for pollination as i understand...?"

I don't think so.

"when it bolts so that i can sort out the garden again.."

But why did it bolt? Could be that its genetics are susceptible to bolting, and thus you will be growing a crop of Lettuce selectively bred to be prone to bolting!

If your Dad was tall you would expect ot be tall, and vice versa. Same with plant characteristics - don't eat all the really nice, juicy, fat ones and keep the rubbish small ones (or the ones that are misshapen, or bolt, etc.), which you obviously don't want to eat, as next year's seed

"I have 2 breeds of carrot, baby and i suppose 'regular' but i don't have much more growing information on these. i plan to pull the plants i don't eat in august and put them in pots to go to seed next year"

I doubt they will transplant, but you may be lucky. "Moving" them will release the lovely scent of Carrot ... which may attract the Carrot Fly, and that will muck up your plans I'm afraid! And they hate being moved :( I would sow the ones you want to grow for seed in pots directly, and specifically for that purpose. But too much trouble for me!

"Onions / leeks â?? I am going to dig up some of these at around july and transplant them into pots so that they might go to seed next year and i can save the seeds."

I can't speak for the Onions, but the Leeks will probably be happy with that.

 

You type quicker than me John (and are more succinct!)