Seeds for vegetable garden - have I left it too late?

[Goshimtired]

I know, have left it rather late but need to get on with this now. I'll admit I'm not much of a gardener but I'd really appreciate some advice on which seeds I could be getting at this time of year that will stand a chance of growing now. We have inherited a largish patch and would love to use it properly.

We love most veg... apart from cabbages!! Any advice very welcome.

It depends where you are - South or North?

South

Disclaimer: I am no expert, but...

What with the piles of snow we've been having, you may be glad you hadn't planted up til now!

Have a look at doing some potatoes, they need a fair amount of space but should be good for your large-ish patch, and you can plant different potatoes at different times for constant / seasonal cropping.

Will you be using a poly tunnel or greenhouse type thing or just going straight into ground? I have several a greenhouse for my tomatoes and cucumbers, I grow loads every year and always use them all up.

Carrots are fab to grow, as are courgettes, cauliflower, also maybe set aside a windowsill somewhere for herbs to supplement and flavour what you grow?

The Suttons website is v helpful for what to start growing when.

I love beans and peas. You can plant direct without starting them indoors. Mine aren't in yet.

You're not too late at all. If you want to sow tomatoes (or peppers) you'll need to get them in (somewhere warm) in the next couple of weeks. Its too late to start onions from seed, though not too late from sets. Otherwise, I can't think of anything that there's a rush to sow given the weather.

TBH I would say that on the whole you always do better to be patient & wait for the weather to warm up before putting seeds in - carrots / beetroot / lettuce / whatever sown in late April will germinate better and most likely catch up with a March sowing that has sat in cold soil.

Runner & french beans, courgettes, cukes etc - best started very late April or into May, again they'll catch up with earlier sowings that have sulked in the cold nights.

Thank you all. I'm relieved to know that I can still sow some things. You've been really helpful.

I've taken a look at Sutton's website, how useful being divided into months . Going to order some tomorrow. Thank you!!

Basically you can pretty much still sow everything! You'd need to buy baby plants if you want to grow aubergines, and its getting late for peppers, but other than that you are in plenty of time.

The other posters are right, this year more than ever. The cold means everything is behind, apart from the few items flagged that you would really need to get a move on with. If you have quite a big space, try to avoid the common mistake of trying to do too much at first. Do what you can this year and make a success of it. At its simplest, choose the items you like to eat and then try growing them. Good luck

a lot of garden centres do plug plants (veg etc). i used to try with seeds, but don't have a greenhouse, and found the plug plants fab. quite good value and can get you going.

beetroot are very pleasing and pest-free.
Salad leaves (eg rocket, mizuna, etc) are brilliant, easy and handy to have.
Courgette (big seeds, easy to sow, make big easy-to-deal-with seedlings) are very productive; won't stand any frost at all - you only need a couple, give them 18" all round.
Spring onions are also very pleasing.
As is sweetcorn - sounds difficult to grow, looks impressive, dead easy though.

Just start with the thought that you should grow half as much twice as well. And if you can get a decent reference book all the better!