Planting Plan for the Patch 2012

It's February and after cold winds and rain yesterday today I was woken by birdsong and sunshine, blue skies above me and it got me planning!

Last year this is what I had to keep my seeds warm and dry!

    












But this year I have the greenhouse! I will need to put the staging in both sides and add the spare shelves you can see on the ground to make room for the trays and trays of seeds I am planning to sow.....

This is what it looked like in the ice and snow - but it kept the salad growing and all the cuttings are still alive, the sweat peas are thriving - I am so grateful. 

I have come up with a sowing and planting plan for the Patch which has taken a lot of pencil sucking and rubbing out and pouring through catalogues. I have now sorted out what I want to put in the four beds in the Patch ( the fifth bed is a permanent fruit and asparagus bed). I want to rotate the types of plant in each one to keep everything healthy. So here goes here is my plan so far, I will go into each variety in the next post:

Bed number 4 - Brassicas: 2m x 4m 6 rows

Tender stem broccoli Kailaan

Romanesco Broccoli 

Red Arrow Purple Sprouting broccoli (winter/next spring)

Summer Purple sprouting broccoli (august - end of the year)

Kohl Rabi purple delicacy

sprouts wellington (just four plants)

Brora swede (half a row)

pak choi

radicchio

Kales will go in mid summer to replace the Spring Hero cabbages - red russian and 

cavallo nero

Roots: 1.50m x 4m (5 rows)

carrots early nantes

carrots Flyaway

parnsips gladiator (half a row)

beetroot boltardy, burpees golden and chioggia

Fennel romanesco

Alliums: 2m x 4m (6 rows)

garlic

shallots

radar onions

red baron 

stetton 

Garlic Wight Cristo (spring)

white lisbon spring onions

leek giant Musselburgh -  will replace radar onions and shallots

leek St Victor - “     “      “          “             “                   “                      “

perpetual spinach

rainbow chard

Legumes: 2m x 4m

aquadulce claudia broad beans

Broad bean green masterpiece

Pea douce de provence

Pea Hurst Green Shaft

Pea kelvedon wonder

runner bean St George

Blue Lake french climbing bean.

Greenhouse:

tomatoes: Black Krim x 2,  costeluto fiorentino x 2 sungold x 4 

aubergine: money maker x 4 

chilli padron x 4

pepper california wonder x 4

Whole under shelf bed of salad, including rocket, mizuna, mustard greens, tom thumb lettuce, cocarde lettuce, black seeded simpson, green oak leaf lettuce, mixed leaves etc. 

cucumber burpless x 1 

Potato patch: 

Arran Pilot

Picasso

Sarpo Mira

pink fir apple

Squash gem rolet

Squash red kuri

Courgettes -  Defender, Golden soleil, patti pan, yellow scallop, best of british

butternut squash hunter

artichokes Gros vert de Laon and Violetto 

Herbs:

Greek basil

Basil Sweet Genovese

Sage

coriander

french sorrel

parsley 

mint

parcel

(already have thymes, bay, oregano, marjoram, fennel, dill, sage)

Pots: around the deck and against the tree on the slurry

Mignonette Alpine Strawberry

Borlotti Bean in bean planter

salad leaves

six ferline tomatoes in growbags (outside variety resistant to Blight)

2 cucumber burpless

2 tromboncino zucchini

4 principe borghese tomatoes (Italian small plum variety for drying)

4 aubergines

4 peppers

4 chillies

Potatoes for planters: 

rocket 1st early, charlotte and vivaldi 2nd early - five tubers of each and three planters

Whew! Most of these will be sown in the greenhouse in March and April, some like the root veg will go straight into the ground when it warms up. I have learned a lot about the different varieties and as we go through the year I will report on the success of each in term of ease of growing and productivity!