A wonderful time!
News and advice from Charles to you
Lettuce, spinach, turnips, peas are now on the bench, after germinating in the house, and then spending a few days on the hotbed
It's not common to find a ‘perfect sowing day’, when season and moon phase coincide nicely. I look firstly for dates which fall in the period just before full moon, and find the best time is 7 to 2 days before full.
The next full moon is 3rd March, so this weekend is perfect for sowing many seeds. Give them warmth for the first few days, in the house if you have space. Find dates for the whole year in my 2026 Sowing Calendar, also available in digital.
The dates I recommend are applicable to temperate, mid-latitude climates. At this time of year, within that broad umbrella, there are huge weather variations, and I know that some of you still have snow. However, it should not be long before you will experience significant warmth even in zones 5-6, and when you start seedlings undercover, perhaps with snow outside, that gets you nicely ahead of the game. Especially when you use covers over new plantings, see below.
Potting mix variations, more fibre on right, peas at three weeks
For potting mix, I recommend Gro Worm peat free. I've been working with them to compare different batches, and the peas in this photo are one such trial. The strong seedlings on the right are in a mix with more fibre from coir, and we are finding that better for holding air in the mix while roots are growing. Both of them have excellent nutrient status.
I use this compost in a mix for all purposes, sowing and potting. I increase the amount by adding 50% of my own worm compost.
Sown trays in the house until first leaves appear, at which stage I move them to the hotbed, see next photo.
The trays above are kohlrabi, fennel, spring onion and spinach. If you don't have facilities to do this, it's now possible in milder climates to sow direct:
Spinach, spring onion, turnip, radish, onion, peas, broad beans and lettuce. Cover the sown bed with fleece, for a reliable result.
Even you can sow a few carrots, but not all because it’s a slight gamble to start them this early. Equinox is a more reliable time.
The hotbed under these seedlings is 62°C/140°F now, propelling the seedlings into strong growth and mostly I leave them on for just one week. Lettuce on left, spinach, starting erratically as usual in the middle and beetroot on the right.
Sow under cover: broad beans, spinach, lettuce, peas for shoots, onion, salad onion, early varieties of cabbage, calabrese, kohlrabi, cauliflower, turnips, radish, bulb/Florence fennel, celery, beetroot, parsley, coriander, dill.
With warmth: aubergine, pepper, chilli. These seeds benefit from any kind of extra heat, for at least the first few weeks after sowing. While other seeds mostly need some extra warmth for just a few days after sowing.
Tomatoes I am sowing around 10th March. You can sow earlier, but plants might then be too large before the ground is ready, depending when it is your last frost.
Spinach planted three days earlier and settling in under a fleece cover. See how small are the seedlings, and they were not hardened off
Both the spinach and turnips have fleece directly on them, holding warmth close to the seedlings.
Tokyo turnips multisown, and we transplanted them eight days earlier, they are already growing noticeably
The fleece I use filters about 30% of the sunlight, but the 70% passing through has double value because fleece holds the infrared warmth it creates. Without the cover, that warmth would just blow away, so it's a net gain at a time of year when we need more warmth, and often have more light than is necessary.
The environment under fleece can be too hot by May, so that's the main reason for switching to mesh, which does not hold so much warmth, and allows a little more light through. Mesh it's heavier than fleece, and I support it with these wires.
Cabbage Spring Hero under mesh, was sown 1st September and transplanted early October, has had the mesh cover throughout, for harvests from mid-April
The overwintered cabbage are looking exceptional, and for them the mesh is a much more appropriate cover. Partly because I find that fleece in winter is inclined to be damaged by wind, and the purpose of a cover on these brassicas is pigeon protection, which is done admirably by the mesh.
Bird netting also is effective over winter, see this photo.
Broad beans are strongest where bird netting was over them, on left, not on the other two beds
My new book Grow Together appears in a month. On the evening of 14th April I present it at Toppings Bookshop in Bath, and you can pre-order any time.
Audio Factory recording of Grow Together. The audio version will appear in April, alongside the written book, and an ebook
Equally, it's amazing how much difference a cover can make to outdoor sowings of early autumn, such as this Cruiser coriander.
Coriander sown direct 5.5 months ago, and the plant-based cover
We sowed it direct on 8th September with home-saved seed, and it's been so easy to grow. Partly from few weeds thanks to no dig, and because the cover is flat on the plants with no hoops, meaning it has not blown away at all! It's made from plant matter.
Rhubabrd also is looking good, with first harvests possible., this is Champagne.
Stored vegetables are proving top quality this winter, such as beetroot, onions, apples, and squash. Also these amazing celeriac.
Celeriac 3 months since harvest, stored in this crate on the table in my uninsulated wooden shed, which freezes inside a little.
Events in Sweden, 9th to 14th May
I'm doing a little tour, starting in Dalarna for the country fair which happens there every May. I'm giving talks on 9th, then on the evening of 10th May I'm speaking in Tallåsaulan, Läroverksgatan 1, Katrineholm. The next day is a workshop at Oasen pa Asen no dig market garden, and for both events please email [email protected].
I am three days in Gothenburg: 12th May in the evening is a talk about energy gardening and seed saving- how to grow more and better, with less effort. 13th May is a talk about no dig and making compost, followed by a day course in Lisa Mansson’s garden on 14th May.
Gothenburg is central to Norway and Denmark, and I hope to meet you there.
Greenhouse salad plants after picking, with garlic up the middle and carrots sown in a pot on the left
A final thought, an excellent health event in London tomorrow 1st March, near Kings Cross. I shall be there.
Use PHILLY20 for 20% off ticket price.
