sowing veg when's best?

[joannita]

HI I would like to start a veg patch with participation from ds who's 19 months and v interested in digging. Problem is I don't know a thing about it, especially when to sow and what plants would work in my garden/ are easy to grow for beginners. Anyone recommend a good book /website which could talk me through it?

joannita this time of year look at salad leaves. Dont plant too many at one go (unless you want to eat lettuce solidly for a month)! You could also look at planting Christmas potatoes.

Generally the planting season starts around April (though there are things which go in sooner).

Have you tried growing seeds in a jam jar to show your DS how seeds germinate?

Another quick crop is cress.

Look in your local library for books, or, failing that the book section in your local garden centre. Then, if you decide you like the style of one above another, order it from Amazon. I have several, some better than others, but refer in varying degrees to them all.

Grow Your Own Vegetables by Joy Larkcom is very good. As well as the general explanation of how to do it all it has a section with a page on each different type of vegetable (when to sow, how etc) it has a month by month sowing guide, so you can look & see what you can be doing each month.

As Gnome says, salads are good to sow now. You could for example do a small patch of salads now (or even sow some in a big container) and then get a veg patch ready for next spring. I'd suggest starting small, much easier to keep on top of a little patch and much more encouraging, then if you get keen later you can always expand it!

Next spring, early potatoes are always good for small children - very easy to plant, and pretty much foolproof! Normally they don't make much sense in a small plot, but they are a nice thing to grow with little ones.

Thanks for the advice. I'll get some salad sown and think I might invest in the grow your own vegetables book!

Some other things to look at planting in the autumn:

• shallots
• autumn planting onions
• garlic
• broad beans

Try growing lots of different things to start with. You might be amazed at what you like when your food miles can be measured in feet!

Get the RHS "grow your own" app. It's free and gives advice month by month.
Otherwise, river cottage veg patch book is simple without being patronising.