[JulieP]

Hi all, have just added a few bags of well rotted horse manure today (been far too wet before) when do you suggest I plant in it

[Salmo]

Depends what you want to grow?

Last week I planted out some broad beans and peas that have been growing in root trainers. Seed for these should be OK to sow directly in the ground now.

This week I plan to plant a short row of early potatoes but the seconds and maincrop will wait another couple of weeks.

Shallots and garlic should be planted if you have not already done so. Onion sets could wait a week or two until it is warmer.

Carrots and parsnips like the soil warm so again wait a bit.

[tinyallotment]

An old gardener once said to me that when the weeds start growing the soil is warm enough for your plants to start growing. A little simplistic I know but it ties in with permaculture principle number one, Observe and Interact.

We tend to start off far more seedlings than we need so if we get it wrong and everything dies or gets eaten we have some in reserve that have got a little bigger and stronger. Last year we planted out our runner beans and they all got eaten by slugs so we left it for a couple of weeks and the second lot survived. A lot of the original ones also started to re-grow so we had an abundance of beans.

Paul

[Trikidiki]

The old boy I shared my plot with used to bring on his runners in the greenhouse. When planting out he would drop another seed in the bottom of the hole as his reserve. If the main plant survived he had a successional plant producing a slightly delayed crop as well.

I always sowed my runners when I heard the first cuckoo, if anyone shoots the local cuckoos we get no beans.

I am wary of the planting when the weeds start germinating. Lots of those weeds are frost hardy so can afford to germinate early or the seeds are present in such abundance that they can afford to lose a few early starts if the weather gets cold again.

I think the real answer is sow what you can adequately protect if we get a frost or a prolonged cold snap.