Be guided by the weather during March and start sowing vegetable seeds only if the weather's mild and the conditions are suitable. If you walk over the soil and it sticks to your boots, then it's still too early. A tell-tale sign that it's warm enough for seeds to germinate is when the weeds start appearing.
You should have finished digging the veg patch by now but if you do need to work on it and it's still wet, use a plank to walk on to avoid compacting the soil.
Getting going......
Early and maincrop potatoes should be put in trays or egg boxes for chitting.
Plant: shallots, garlic, onion sets, Jerusalem artichoke tubers, asparagus crowns. Early seed potatoes, which have been chitted, can be planted out this month if you live in a mild area (otherwise wait until April).
Prepare seedbeds which should then be covered with clear polythene, fleece or growing tunnels to warm up the soil prior to sowing. Assuming the weather is mild and your soil is light, you can start to sow:
broad beans, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, bulb onions, lettuces, radish, peas, spinach, summer cabbage, salad leaves, leeks, Swiss chard, kohl rabi, turnip and summer cauliflower.
Early outdoor sowings must be protected with fleece tunnels or cloches.
In a frost-free greenhouse, sow sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and salads, eithe for keeping in the greenhouse or planting out later on. Celery and globe artichokes can be started off in the greenhouse for planting out in the late spring.
Chicory and seakale can continue to be forced, see February for details.
Supports can be put in place for peas and runner bean supports and trenches can be prepared for sowing later in the spring.
You can start preparing celery trenches using plenty of rotted manure, which aids both drainage and water retention, improving the quality of the crop.
Still harvesting……….
crops such as leeks, broccoli, swede, turnip, parsnips, celeriac, brussels sprouts, chicory, kale, Jerusalem artichokes, spring cabbages and cauliflower throughout the month. Spring cabbages and other crops that have been in the ground over the winter need a high nitrogen feed, like Chempak Formula 2 or a balanced feed such as Growmore or poultry manure. Early spring cabbage varieties are likely to be ready from the end of the month and when ready to harvest, cut off the stem and cut a cross in the stem’s top to encourage the growth of spring greens.
Keep an eye out for…….
Pesky mice nibbling at stored veg and newly sown crops under cloches or in tunnels. Stored veg should be regularly inspected for rot and any offending specimens should be removed before ruining the lot.
If it's a mild March, you may start to see insect activity starting early.
Any decaying or yellowing foliage on brassicas should be removed and destroyed to stop the spread of mould and mildew.
Slugs are always a pest to be watchful for. Pigeons are a particular pest of mature brassica crops, so use netting to protect your crops. Certain birds are also a nuisance to seeds and seedlings and if you’re a committed VegGrower, or you have a large patch and/or a repeated bird problem, then it’s well worth considering a walk-in fruit cage to cover the lot and protect it permanently. The initial outlay might seem quite a lot but when you consider the amount of time & money spent over the years protecting your crops, it’s a worthwhile investment.
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