What do I need to do in my veggie patch right now?

[PureNewWoolWithPerfectStitches]

Well not right now because it's dark and I'm in my PJs but in the next few weeks?
We're intending to grow: carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, leeks, runner beans (only a few, we had millions last year, it was ridiculous) and peas.
Also: tomatoes and cucumbers in the green house (unheated).

Could some EXTREMELY kind and wonderful gardening sort tell me what I should be getting on with, please? Thanks.

Oh and in advance, have a in thanks because everyone knows tastes better outside.

[moonbells]

sow outside: carrots eg early nantes, parsnips, beetroot. sow leeks in trays inside as they take ages to get to pencil size. onion sets and garlic should go in soon and potatoes in the next week or so.

[LadyWellian]

I've dug my (new, or at least new to me, and didn't have anything useful left in it) over, dug in 100 litres of farmyard manure and covered it with a sheet of black plastic I had lying around to stop opportunistic weeds from happening on it.

I'm not planning to put anything in for the next couple of weeks as we are going away the first week of the Easter hols.

[PureNewWoolWithPerfectStitches]

Right! Thanks
Any ideas about the cucumbers and tomatoes? I bought some (very expensive - I didn't realise until I got to the till ) cucumber seeds. Do they need to be planted in the greenhouse - which is unheated or indoors? I'm intending to grow them in the greenhouse, also which compost (the packet just says a good quality compost) but there's so many types I have some decent multi purpose stuff, will that do? So many questions! I don't want to bugger them up though - stupid expensive seeds putting pressure on a novice gardener
Is it best to get grow bags for tomatoes?

[PureNewWoolWithPerfectStitches]

Oh and we manured the veggie patch last year. Should we do it again this year? I read somewhere that it can cause fanging in carrots and we did have a lot of that last year (where one carrot splits and grows as two so when you pull it out it does look like fangs...in case like me you had no idea what that meant)

[LadyWellian]

PureNewWool I'm certainly no expert!

I've also got some expensive cucumber seeds. I was going to plant them indoors then put them in the veg patch through some black plastic (it's what it says on the packet). I've also got some melon seeds (they were free so I thought what have I got to lose) that want the same doing with them.

I'm already expecting some interesting carrots as my patch is by no means free of stones. I thought I might grow some in a trough too in the quest for perfection.

I think you should manure every year in areas where you are growing beans and the like.

I've got a ridiculous number of pots lying around so I was going to do the tomatoes in those. I've planted some beefsteak type ones and some cherry type ones, and so far a lot more of the big ones have come up - I might need to buy some plants later in the season if I want variety.

Good luck! I've never had a whole veg patch before (just grown beans really) so this year is a bit of an experiment.

[Rugbylovingmum]

I've started my tomatoes on the windowsill and they are growing well. I'm certainly no expert but my dad grows loads of tomatoes and he doesn't really like grow bags - he doesn't think that they have enough compost/depth for growing tomatoes. He grows his tomatoes in pots and I am going to do the same. Otherwise you can carefully cut the bottom off a pot and screw that into the compost in the growbag then top up with more compost to add a bit of depth. I would only grow 2 plants per growbag (usually spaces for 3 but not really enough compost) and in the third space stick the top part of a plastic bottle that has been cut in half like this so you can water them without washing the compost away.

No idea about cucumbers though.

[PureNewWoolWithPerfectStitches]

Right! Thanks you lot.
Tomatoes are in the propagator (thank for loan MIL) with the cucumbers and peppers.
We've got grow bags for ease but I'm going to use the top tip with the pots - great idea! What sort of compost would you (or your Dad Rugbylovingmum) fill them with?

LadyWellian - my £££ cucumber seeds are for indoor growth so I'm going to grow them in the green house. Any ideas about how to support them. I read about them in my bible and it said in the difficulty rating - easy/med/hard that they were hard

OOooooh, I love this time of year

[LadyWellian]

Completely clueless on cucumbers. I am hoping mine are the small bush variety!

[TaffetaCat]

I've been researching cucumbers as my friend gave me a plant last year and the DC who normally turn their noses up at cues, loved the one fruit we got off it .

I've bought Burpless Tasty Green ( from Nicky's Nursery about £1.50 for 15 seeds I think ), they are outdoor ones ( I don't have a greenhouse ), and came out best in the GW taste test trials. Our soil is very poor, very well drained and cues like moisture, so I will be trying them out in growbags.

With toms, I upend the growbag and cut it in half, so you end up with 2 deep growbags. I've done toms like this the last 3 years and they've fruited really well.

I think I'll do the same with the cues.

I have 4 growbags left from last years toms, someone told me the compost wasn't spent and could be used for salad leaves? Anyone any thoughts on this?