[smudger]

Hi Everyone! This is my first time to this site. But more worrying for me is that this is my first year with an allotment and I have never grown any fruit or veg before in my life. I have grown my green manure and dug it in back at the begining of November, now I reach the next stage when and where do I buy my seeds, I do not have a greenhouse although I am in the process of constructing a cold frame, so pretty much all of the seeds will have to go straight into the ground anyway to cut this question short can anyone help?

Regards
Smudger

[DD.]

Hi smudger & welcome to the forums.

You asked one of those questions where you'd get 21 different answers from 20 gardeners.

Sounds to me you need to start with your basics. Somewhere like Wilcos stock basic seeds at reasonable prices.

Start with things like brassicas, leeks, carrots, spuds, lettuce, courgettes, runner beans etc. to get a feel for things and then progress to more difficult veg as you go on.

Don't be afraid to keep on coming back here to ask.

[New shoot]

There's not much you can actually sow yet Smudger, but lots of garden centres will have half price seeds as a January offer. Both Thompson & Morgan and Suttons support this every year, so go have a look and start laying in supplies.

Lots of stuff can be sown direct - beetroots, carrots, parsnips, leeks, cabbages, most salad leaves. Just check the back of the packets and they will make it clear.

It's only tender veg like tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and the like which you start off inside. You can make do with a windowsill or just concentrate on the stuff you can sow direct and buy baby veg plants as and when you need them. A baby veg plant will cost from about 99p up, so it's an easy way to get the slightly trickier plants when you want them, rather than worry about it.  

It's an ideal time of year for planting fruit trees and soft fruit so you could get going on these now if you wanted.

[DD.]

There's not much you can actually sow yet Smudger, but lots of garden centres will have half price seeds as a January offer.

Never seen that around here!

[mumofstig]

There's not much you can actually sow yet Smudger, but lots of garden centres will have half price seeds as a January offer.

Never seen that around here!

Me neither..............they sell the old stock beginning of december give or take, but then right after Christmas the new season seeds are in at full price. They then stay that way till next winter's sale. The nearest I've seen to a spring sale is T&M, sometimes, sending a fiver off voucher when they start getting desperate for sales

[New shoot]

Well Country Gardens down the road from me has 1/2 price seeds as a January offer every year and Squires have half price veg seeds through January if you have 1 of these near you.

Might be mainly the larger chains doing the deals, but I've worked for independants who stocked T&M and did the same offer each January. Check the websites or ring round.  Might be your local GCs use other seed suppliers who don't do the offer.   

[mumofstig]

Well Country Gardens down the road from me has 1/2 price seeds as a January offer every year and Squires have half price veg seeds through January if you have 1 of these near you.

Might be mainly the larger chains doing the deals, but I've worked for independants who stocked T&M and did the same offer each January. Check the websites or ring round.  Might be your local GCs use other seed suppliers who don't do the offer.   

are they last years stock New shoot, the ones Wilko were selling before Christmas, or this new year's stock?

[DD.]

We have a Wyvevale near us, they are a large chain & I never seen such an offer.

Anyway - we are starting to digress.

[Loubs]

Hello,
Exciting times for you then!

If I were you, I would get lots of seed catalogues now (Thompson & Morgan, Suttons, Dobies, DT Browns, Marshalls, Mr Fothergills, Real Seeds etc) - either on-line or order the catalogues in. Get a good book or two on growing veg, but back it up with searches on this site for all the different fruit & vegetables you want to grow for good advice - I've noticed that everyone has a different opinion on pretty much everything! and start planning and ordering your seeds.

There are a few things you could start sowing in January indoors of you really want to (onions, leeks, aubergines, some varieties cauliflowers) but really the main sowing times start in Feb/March so you need to be ready for then.
Good luck!

[SG6]

Other then the garden centre's try Wilkinsons, but theirs tends to be limited to the "normal" stuff and they can sell out quick.
Web sites for Thompson & Morgan, Suttons, Dobies, DT Browns, Marshalls, Mr Fothergills as said by Loubs.
One garden centre near me sells their own varieties of veg seeds, no use to you unless you are close to Ware.
One on-line supplier I use is podseeds, based in Suffolk, they have selection of seeds that don't always crop up with the main suppliers.

[DD.]

Other then the garden centre's try Wilkinsons, but theirs tends to be limited to the "normal" stuff and they can sell out quick.

This is exactly what  said in the first reply to the OP. As a first time grower I think he'd be wise to stick to the "normal" sruff, at least for the first year.

[Elcie]

I agree with DD, Wilkinsons is great for the basic seeds.  B&Q do some too and I have used things like salad leaves/radish from there and they are less than 50p per packet and were very successful.

Good luck with all the planning!  Oh, and a great piece of advice is just to grow stuff that you actually like to eat!

[bailey]

I use premier seeds direct via ebay for alot of my run of the mill stuff plus some not so run of the mill stuff,, normally p=p is the same for 20 packets as it is for 1.
and I have had excellant results from them.

[Kristen]

My advice to Newbies is to grow what you like to eat. Growing a whole variety of "experiments" that you then potentially find you don't like can be a bit of a turn-off!