Early Vegetables to Grow

What Vegetables can we plant now
Home grown produce does not have to mean a big allotment and lots of work.
Why not grow a few things you enjoy potager style in your borders. 
See availability list below.
Anyone listening to Monty in early March should be rushing to plant parsnips, radishes and seed their tomatoes. There is a little more you can do!


Potager style planting edibles in flower borders
Perennial plants can be fairly effortless and mix easily in your borders. Rainbow chard is a great foliage. Rhubarb can always find a corner, pop a forcer on top for perfect straight early stems. Grow the tasty leaf herb sorrel eaten by the French on mass and globe artichokes can be a tall dramatic silver foliage addition to a bed.  Not to be confused with Jerusalem artichokes also perennial, though not so pretty. They need corner to hide away they are not a pretty feature.
Red runner bean flowers on obelisks perhaps with a few sweet peas can add a bit of free height and eye level interest. Cut and come again lettuce can be a big saving on salad crops for the cost of a packet of seeds and homegrown tomatoes don't need any recommendation. Could they not tumble out of your hanging baskets. 
Every garden should have a good herb bed or potted herbs for cooking ,we should always produce the easy stuff  and we don't need to be allomenteers!

What to Plant in early Spring
Or should I say when will we be safe from frost!
Vegetable gardening is a gambling game as we can not predict the weather and no one wants an unexpected frost to damage an early crop. We have to use our judgement and sometime weigh up the risks and take a chance. The other thing I would say is don't over plant. If you do not want 200 lettuces do not plant the whole packet ! Sprinkle a few seeds every few weeks and enjoy a continuous crop.

Available at present we have a substantial amount of 6 packs. Some are waiting for green houses and slightly warmer weather others are happy to go in the ground and can take a bit of cold.

Broad beans are one of the first things we can plant. Usually followed by onions, shallots and early potatoes. We may still have frost but perhaps its worth risking one little row of potatoes. Sprouts are also reasonably hardy to go in early.
Onions and shallots are available as bulbs to plant just pressed into the soil lightly and guarded from dogs, children, rabbits and birds that like to move them! Alternatively we have seeded six packs to plant, which can be planted and are more difficult to move!

If you have a green house or a window ledge most of your seeds should be started now to plant out in the warmer weather. All our vegetable seeds are in.

Risk planting out some lettuces now. If you don't grow chard you should its so easy and it can usually survive the winter. Use it like a spinach. It grows more like a cabbage and you pull off the leaves.
Baby leaf Pak Choi, kohl rani, baby leaf kale and spinach are all fairly tough leaves. Don't miss  having homegrown garlic is a easy bulb to pop in.

If the weather gets a little warmer towards mid March our seeded root crops can probably go in. 

Read More on growing vegetables: 

Seeded Plants Available in Early Spring

Asparagus

Beetroot

Carrot

Broad bean

Cauliflower

Cabbage

Calabrese

Chard rainbow

Fennel

Kohl Rani

Baby leaf kale

Baby leaf Pak Choi

Lettuce

Onion

Parsley

Shallots

Spinach

Swede.

Turnip