[kalougri]

Hiya,

First of all, please excuse my lack of knowledge, if this sounds stupid I apologise in advance!

We moved before Christmas, and have a much bigger garden so it was our intention to grow some veg. We cleared our plots, weeded them etc. We then bought seeds from our local horticultural societys group order (with a great discount!) and were ready to go.

However, life since march seems to have run away with us and we haven't gotten around to planting most of our seeds.

we have:

Dwarf french beans (safari)
chantenay red cored carrots
brussels sprouts (wellington f1)
Iceberg lettuce
round lettuce
leeks (autumn giant 3)

as well as these herbs:
Dill
Sweet basil
Chives
Rosemary


Now, my question is are we too late to plant these?  Having never even planted flower seeds before, I don't really have a clue if they would still grow. Some of the packets say they can be sewn april to july for example, then some say march/april.  Oh, we also have some seed potatoes, they have all grown shoots, with little leaves appearing on the ends, poor things! Have they had it?

Is it worth trying them? And if so, are there any things we could try to make them more succesful?

We did manage to plant some brocoli and some cabbages, hopefully they will produce something, though the brocoli isnt looking to healthy I must say.

If anyone has any reccomendations for good books on the subject I would be really grateful!

It would be so good for my children to eb able to come out and help me pick a few of our own vegetables! And also for their mum and dad not to look so incompetent! lol!

Next year we will hopefully be more organised

Kara xx

[wellingtons]

... purely working from my memory ... so please listen to others if they correct me ... I would say

Still OK:  french beans, lettuce and all the herbs

Too late: sprouts

Worth a go: leeks, carrots - but if they work you are only likely to get "baby" veg.

Now ... with the potatoes you can try and get a crop for November/December by planting now.  But best planted in a tub or container that you can bring indoors later on, or have indoors from now.

So ... get your french beans in now!!!! Today!!! And the kids will be picking beans afore long ... I promise.

If you fancy buying any more seeds ... radishes and beetroot are still good for now, as are any other salad crops (rocket, etc).

[Trillium]

Welly hit them all on the nose, Kalougri. If you plant now, you can still have some veg but not the lot.
As for the cole veg problems, you'll need to go into the Search slot above and click that subject for more info. They're not quite as simple to grow as you might think. Or, ask your garden club members for info.  

[kalougri]

Thanks for the replies

I will get planting

With the seeds I don't plant like the sprouts, can I keep them for planting next year or do they only last for the year you buy them?

Again, I'm completely clueless here  :oops:

Thanks again, Kara xx

[Ice]

Welcome.

Ditto what Wellies said.  As for the seeds, they should be fine next year but maybe a few less will germinate.

[WG.]

 can I keep them for planting next year

Please try the Search button at the top of this page.  Fill in the search fields as described but do post again if you can't find the answers you need (or even if you just feel like posting again   )

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[kalougri]

Thanks, I'm sorry, It must be infuriating when newbies ask the same questions over and over again, I was being a bit lazy :oops: lol

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Kalougri, please don't worry about asking what you think are repeated or stupid questions, we've all been there!   And yes, things do get asked more than once, but it sometimes takes forever reading through all the posts from the last 18 months or so, and you can only search when you know what you are looking for!

The others are right about the seeds.  Most of them will last more than the first year, particularly parsnips!!!!!  You buy a pkt of parsnip seeds and get about 4,000 seeds, but who wants 4,000 parsnips???  Then some seeds will last for 4 or 5 sometimes more years, but with less germinaton as each year grows!

So try the ones where the packet says sow up to July, even perhaps June stuff as we've had such a bad early summer.  Have you got a greenhouse?  I'd definitely try those potatoes, would be a shame to lose them.  Put them in pots or a greenhouse, but cover them when the weather gets colder so they don't get got at by the frost.  

Anyway, I'll stop waffling now as I've got to get to work!  Good luck with it all. Fingers crossed for you!

[WG.]

Thanks, I'm sorry, It must be infuriating when newbies ask the same questions over and over again, I was being a bit lazy :oops: lol

Not a problem at all.  The Search facility is a little tricky to use.   PLUS, if no-one posted questions, it wouldn't be the fantastic friendly forum that it is.