Vegetable patch help for beginners

[teenagersandatoddler]

I am wanting to start growing my own veggies. We have veggie beds ready to go but I have no idea where to start and would appreciate any help to get me started

I'm afraid it's a bit later, however you can still sow seeds for late carrots, radish, lettuce, kale and spinach.

Later on in late october you can sow broad beans which will germinate and over-winter, unless you are somewhere with very low (for the UK) temperatures.

I would recommend growing some winter cabbages. Start them in small pots on the windowsill for 2-3 weeks, when they are the right size you can plant them out, use a mesh net over your planter to keep the birds off.

You could also grow some radishes at this time of year. Radish are quite easy compared to some veg, and make for a good intro when you start your first veg patch!

Can you start peas and beans this late in the year?

I'm not sure about beans or peas, Ive had sucess planting them in late spring. I really recommend a book called Allotment Month by Month, by Alan Buckingham for planning what to grow and seeing how difficult/practical it might be!

It's not that weirder time to start - you're too late for "summer" veg, and cutting it fine for things like pumpkins, but you can still plan for sowing of things like winter squash, christmas potatoes, winter peas (I love winter peas!!), winter kale, broad beans, cavalo nero - things like that.

Can also still put in the very quick growing stuff like radishes, spinach, lettuce. Great cheat for lettuce is to get the Lidl ones with the roots and just break them up into separate plants and plant them, then you have a cut and come again lettuce.... makes you feel like you're achieving something as long as you can keep the slugs away!!