According to the calendar we’re in spring. And with a few bright sunny days arriving, creeping longer each time, it’s hard to resist the temptation to dart into the garden and sow your veg seeds as quickly as you can get the packs open. But we all know that March is still capable of delivering frosts or snow rendering that time wasted.
However, for eager sowers desperate to resume life in their veg patch, there are still plenty of plants that can be started now with some gentle scattering. Here are five veg that we’ll be sowing any time now…
Tomatoes
One of the easiest plants to grow from seed, tomatoes thrive on indoor sowing with the warmth of a propagator or well-lit windowsill. They germinate easily and grow rapidly so the earlier you get them started the sooner you’ll be munching on freshly picked toms.
Chillis
Chillis require similar conditions to tomatoes but often need a bit more effort to get them going with warmth, light and careful watering being key. We’ve already planted ours but there’s still plenty of time to start off most varieties.
Carrots
Seed packets may warn of hasty carrot sowing, but keep the soil warm with fleece or bubble wrap and you’ll get a head start on your gardening neighbours. Seeds are cheap, plentiful and don’t keep well so sowing now is well worth a gamble as you can easily follow up with safer succession sowing later in the year.
Broad Beans
Hardier than most legumes, broad beans can be sown in pots or directly in the ground in March. As with carrots it’s worth doing so under cover to give them the benefit of some extra warmth as they’re still fairly tender when young, but once the cold days are over your plants will shoot up in no time.
Peas
For an early crop of peas get them started indoors in trays now. They’re easy to grow from seed and simply need hardening off before planting out when the frosts are over. And why not sow a few extra to harvest as ‘pea shoots’ and transform a bland looking supper into a cheffy creation.
You can pick up lots of garden essentials from Tesco, a UK retailer that also stocks furniture and home accessories. Take a look at their gardening hub for more tips you can apply to your outdoor space
