[gemando]

I'm in the north (durham) and it was constantly raining until April and then cold until 2-4 weeks ago so have barely got anything planted except a few things I've started in the greenhouse and some things outdoors. A few seeds I have recommend planting in march-april (mainly parsnip and sprouts). There's a few which are March-may and I figure those are fine as we're a bit behind in terms of weather/Summer up north but am I okay planting the ones that are well out of the recommended planting time? Will it just affect the length of harvest time?

[mumofstig]

Most things work with a later sowing, bearing in mind they'll probably give a later harvest, we just have to hope that we don't get too early a start to winter 

[gemando]

Well this is only year 2 for me and the weather hasnt been great so far so I wouldn't count on it! I'm not too bothered if a few things don't work out/I get less of them as I bought a wide variety of things to try.

[Trikidiki]

Parsnips shouldn't be a problem as you can just harvest smaller parsnips, unless you are growing for showing.     They shouldn't really be harvested until we get a frost anyway, so plenty of time.

Sprouts may be different as when you peel a small sprout there's nothing left. Of course it all depends on the growing conditions and the weather but if the space is going begging anyway, you have nothing to loose. Sowing dates on packets can usually be stretched a bit.

The ones that would have a real problem will be onions which have different seasonal growth phases and are triggered to change their growth by day length. Things like sweetcorn or peppers which need the warmth and sunshine to ripen may not  be worth the effort of sowing much past the stated dates.

[Yorkshire Lass]

I'm in Yorkshire and I always stretch the recommended dates, (ok so not  with the sun loving veggies). Sometimes my harvests are small but most of the time they catch up! In my opinion its better to try something than nothing.  Plant nothing you get nothing.

[Headgardener22]

Don't forget that the recommended dates assume spring in Wisley (I think it is) and as spring makes its way up the country at walking pace, northern counties can always be later.

[AlaninCarlisle]

I generally sow a second row of parsnips in early June. Usually get great germination and the crop seems hardly later than those sown in early May