Month by month guide to an edible garden - winter/spring

Information sheet

Early spring is a busy time in an edible garden with lots to sow and grow. Use this guide and the links to different crop sheets to help plan your growing.

  • School term: Early Spring, Late Spring
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s):

 

January

February

March

April

Sow/plant

Indoors:
Cress
Microgreens
Mustard
Parsley
Basil

Broad beans
Peas
Radish

Broad beans
Carrots
Garlic (cloves)
Leeks
Lettuce
Onions (sets)
Peas
Potatoes (earlies)
Radish
Spinach
Tomatoes

Carrots
Chard
French beans
Leeks
Lettuce
Peas
Potatoes (main crop)
Pumpkin
Radish
Salad leaves
Spinach
Squash
Tomatoes

Harvest

Leeks
Lettuce

Leeks
Lettuce

Chard
Leeks
Salad leaves

Leeks
Salad leaves
Spinach

Other jobs

January/February

  • Prepare soil and add compost if conditions allow (i.e. the soil isn't too wet or frozen)
  • Cut autumn raspberry canes to ground level (if not done already)
  • Keep overwintering crops protected
  • Choose crops for the year ahead and order seeds
  • Plant bare root fruit trees and bushes
  • Warm soil ahead of sowing seeds with fleece or plastic
  • February only: Chit seed potatoes (for more information on this, see our potato crop sheet)

March/April

  • Dig soil and dig in compost you've added if conditions allow (i.e. the soil isn't too wet or frozen)
  • Prepare seed beds for sowing
  • Mulch around plants with compost
  • Put in supports for climbing plants such as beans and peas
  • Grow carrots under fleece to protect from carrot fly

Jargon Buster

Many edible plants are typically grown from seed but some are more easily grown from baby plants, often because growing them from seed takes a long time or is unreliable. There are different names for different types, for example:

  • Onions can be grown from miniature onions known as sets. These mature faster and are less prone to disease. Check the variety to see if they should be planted in autumn or spring.
  • Garlic is generally supplied in large bulbs made up of many cloves. Each individual clove can be planted to produce a new plant.  Check the variety to see if they should be planted in autumn or spring.
  • Potatoes are grown from miniature potatoes known as seed potatoes and are generally split into three groups: first earlies, second earlies and main crop (depending on when you harvest them). To get them off to a good start, they are chitted before planting which allows the growing shoots to develop.