The weather plays a huge part in growing vegetables as some vegetables love the sunshine and some can live in the shade so it’s very important to take notes on where the sunshine hits your plot in the morning, at midday and in the afternoon. The way sun hits your garden or plot will also change with the time of year as the sun is not very high in the sky in Spring compared to right above you in the Summer.

5 Things you should know about your plot before planting anything

1. Where does the sun hit your plot in the morning, midday and afternoon? The hottest part of the day is midday so plant your sun loving plants in the area the sun hits at midday.
2. Are there any permanently shady areas? Most vegetables like the sun, so try and find cool loving vegetables to grow in shady areas.
3. Which part of your plot is windy and exposed? Some vegetables need to be sheltered from the wind otherwise it may harm their growth.
4. What type of soil do you have? Are you adding compost and topsoil or is it garden soil. It may be worth checking your soil acidity with a soil test.
5. Is the plot on a slope? Or is it mainly level ground? At the bottom of a slope, there may be a different micro climate to the top of the slope. The bottom of the slope may create frost pockets and the top of the slope will be warmer and dryer.

What vegetable goes where and do I have enough room for it?

Vegetables are grouped together in:

• Roots – Carrots, parsnip, beetroot, spring onions, onions, garlic.
• Legumes – Climbing beans, runner beans, broad beans, dwarf beans, peas, mange tout.
• Brassicas – Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohl Rabi, Brussels sprouts.
• Other – Tomatoes, peppers, chillis, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, chard, etc.

Square Foot Gardening

Square foot gardening is literally that, what vegetables, herbs and fruit can be grown in a square foot. It might surprise you what can be grown especially when herbs can be grown in the corner of the plot.

For a 1 metre by 1 meter raised bed, this is what you can grow in this space:

• 2 Tomato plants,
• 1 cucumber plant trained up trellis,
• 4 clumps of lettuce,
• A 90cm row spring onions,
• A 90cm row of carrots,
• A 90cm row of beetroot
• 1-2 plants of dwarf beans.

It is surprising what you can grow in a small space.

Here is the next video in the series called How to Plant a Square Foot Garden

Growing in Rows

When thinking about whether you have enough room to grow things – Roots are normally grown in rows so it’s a good chance you’ll be able to fit some rows into your plot.

Growing up a wigwam

Legumes need support in the form of a wigwam made out of bamboo canes or willow canes. Peas need up to 1.2 meters high and beans need up to 2 metres high, but the bottom of the wigwam has a relatively small footprint so even if 1 wigwam took up your whole raised bed, you will get a glorious harvest from growing beans in this small space.

Growing in clumps or a tunnel under a netting cloche

Brassicas will need a lot of room, the minimum spacing will be 45cm up to 70cm apart from one another. They also attract cabbage white butterflies and caterpillars so will need to be netted with environment for their growing season. This adds to the cost of the growing brassicas, but is well worth the effort if you have the space. Also Brussels sprouts for example can be grown in pots as well.

What you will need to start sowing seeds

• Cell trays or pots, these can be plastic or made from biodegradable materials,
• Multi-purpose compost or seed sowing compost,
• A little watering can or a jug,
• A dibber or an old pencil.
• Vegetable Seeds.

Find out more in Part 3 of my How to Plan your Plot series next week. If you have missed any of the parts, please see the quick links below.

How to Plan Your Vegetable Plot Series

Part 1 – What to grow and where to grow it,

Part 2 – Weather and do I have enough room to grow veg with square foot gardening.

Part 3 – How do I choose the vegetable varieties I would like to grow?