[Thompson24]

Hi

I have just taken over a plot and have cleared a 6ft by 6ft area of weeds etc and rotavated etc.  I was wondering what would be best to grow with planting now?  Im totally new to gardening and growing your own etc?

[peapod]

Hiya Thompson
First of all..can I ask you to put your location in your profile, it makes it far easier to give you advice that will help your own conditions
Second (the good bit!) theres LOADS you can plant now...so....
my turn for the question...what do you like to eat? 

[Yorkie]

John, who hosts this website, has written a fab book (two, actually), called Vegetable Growing Month by Month, and the Essential Allotment Gardener.  You could do a lot worse than get one or both of them.

In the meantime, there are extracts of the monthly guides on the Information pages here.  Have a look at the April & May sections for some ideas.

Decide what you like to eat and what won't take up too much space, and get going.

I sowed peas, parsnips, carrots, beetroot at the weekend.  Probably too late for spuds and onions (and they take up lots of space).  Start off more tender plants like sweetcorn, courgette, beans, indoors now for planting out in June.

Also, read this thread, which covers a very similar question.

[matron]

We have only just put our potatoes and onions in Yorkie and we are 2 weeks earlier than last year. So, I would say that there is still time to get some in. 

[Yorkie]

Fair enough, I was going on what my grandad always did, which was plant on Good Friday - which is usually over by now.  But it's useful to know that it's not too late in practice 

[DD.]

Don't believe in that good Friday thing, neither did my gradfather, as the actual date can vary by a month or more.

[Sadgit]

my spuds went in last week 3 weeks later than last year but should be fine and dandy

[Yorkie]

Oh I know Good Friday moves by such a big amount, it just means you have a very wide planting window (and helps me remember when to think about planting!)  Granddad was a slate miner so GF was probably the only day which wasn't a Sunday when he wasn't working 

[JRRD]

It's not too late for onions either.  I didn't put mine in until 19th May last year and I wasn't disappointed by the size they grew to at all.
I have put my white onions in this week and reds will go in next week. So, compared to last year,  I think I'm early not late !

[tallulah]

We have only just put our potatoes and onions in Yorkie and we are 2 weeks earlier than last year. So, I would say that there is still time to get some in. 

Hope so!  I have quite a backlog of spuds to go in, and they won't be going in yet either, as have injured my foot and can't even walk let alone garden!

Regarding other stuff to go in - I'd suggest some crops that give you satisfaction, fast!  For example salad leaves - there are so many to choose from, and they crop quickly.  Pop in some mature strawberry plants if you can find any.  Also radish, spinach, herbs.  Good luck!  (Pop in the odd flower too at the end of the rows - brightens things up a bit whilst you're waiting!) 

[Glen]

I would agree with purchasing a good book. I started off with Carol Klein's from Gardeners World then got purchased Titch's book for Crimbo. Both are easy to follow even for a beginner like me!

Enjoy!

[Kristen]

"Don't believe in that good Friday thing, neither did my gradfather, as the actual date can vary by a month or more."

I have often wondered about that, and decided it must be to do with coinciding with the right phase of the moon (can't remember the name for that sort of gardening calendar)

For a book I think Dr D.G. Hessayon The Vegetable & Herb Expert is excellent.  Simple page-per-veg style with well presented facts about what/when/how, and able the bugs and diseases

[senrab_nhoj]

Don't believe in that good Friday thing, neither did my gradfather, as the actual date can vary by a month or more.

Agreed

The irish grandfather used St Paddy's day and I see no reason to change

[DD.]

The calculation of the date of Easter is quite a complex one and Easter Sunday is taken to be the first Paschal full moon after 21st March. Without delving right into it, this does not necessarily correspond to an astronomical full moon, and can be 2 days out of phase with it.

Couple that with the fact that the Sunday can be 1-6 days after this event and it can be seen that Easter itself cannot be tied to precisely any phase of the moon either!

[Yorkie]

DD is right about the phases of the moon and easter.

I have always been told it was to do with social morality, working class patterns of work, and religious observance.  Hence my post above.