The timings you need to make successful sowings from February until early November.
Southern Hemisphere free download here https://charlesdowding.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/SH-Sowing-Guide-2023.pdf
Every year I publish a Calendar of sowing dates. This is the 2023 version in my webshop:
https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/charles-dowdings-calendar-of-vegetable-sowing-dates-2023-signed/
This year I put extra dates in the calendar. Then in February I received this comment on Facebook from Carla van Weelie in the Netherlands. She wrote:
“I have a no dig allotment for 10 years now. I bought your calendar ‘23. Have some Questions: do you sow bread beans 9 times until April? We sow summer and winter leeks- it seems you only sow winter leeks? and we sow summer and winter carrots, do you too? And what is the difference between onions and onion sets? I would love a video in which you walk us through the calendar.”
00:00 Introduction, including explanation of recommended sowing dates in my calendar
01:07 February sowings…
01:50 Lettuce, options
02:44 Radish
03:07 Onions, bulb and salad (from seeds)
03:54 Speciality veg, kohlrabi and fennel
04:36 Spinach
05:05 Legumes, peas and broad beans
05:46 Peas for shoots
06:00 Beetroot
06:22 Cabbage, two types
07:08 Broccoli, two types
07:31 Cauliflowers
07:56 Heat-loving plants, chilli, pepper, aubergine
08:35 Tomatoes, and why sowing in March may be better than in Feb
09:08 More March sowings…peas for pods
09:34 Carrots and parsnips (first outdoor sowings)
10:03 Celery and celeriac
10:34 Leeks, and basil (March or April)
11:08 Onions from sets
11:28 Potatoes
12:21 April sowings… more warmth-loving plants, eg basil
12:44 Cucumbers, for growing under cover
13:04 Courgettes
13:20 Squash plants
13:53 Sweetcorn
14:15 Chard and leaf beet
14:45 Melons
15:11 May sowings…cabbage
15:27 Brussels sprouts, and kale
15:55 Swedes/rutabagas
16:19 Beans (French, pole, runner, borlotti)
17:12 Summer sowings…
17:36 Endive and radicchio
18:20 Chinese cabbage
19:22 Radish (winter)
19:29 Turnips (end of summer/early autumn)
19:36 Early autumn sowings…rocket, pak choi, mustards
20:01 Lettuce and endive
20:14 Garlic
20:35 Broad beans
20:44 Sowing date reminders – my sowing calendar, available in print and digital, and sowing timeline wallchart
21:03 My book, No Dig, which has lots of detailed info on growing veg
See also this page of my website, where I explain month by month, best sowing dates, and why!
https://charlesdowding.co.uk/sowing-timeline-for-vegetables/
My new book, No Dig, has detailed information on growing all of the vegetables mentioned in this video: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/product/no-dig/
You can join this channel by paying a monthly fee, to support our work with helping gardeners grow better, and to receive monthly videos made only for members:
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Goals
You’d think zone 8 would be warmer but here in zone 7 in Virginia we can’t grow anything in July and August heat except okra, sweet potatoes, and peppers. Even the tomatoes shut down! This year I’m trying sesame, which seems to like dry and heat.
Goodness, i aspire to make my veggies look that good!
Hi Charles I live in Northern Ireland Zone 9a. I was wondering if I can plant tomatoes outside or do they need to be under cover. Which vegetables can I grow outside please?
I wish someone would make this for Australia.
Amazing and wonderful
Hi Charles, any tips on growing celeriac, I’ve been growing celeriac for about four years and they’re always tiny. I can grow celery reasonably well but even they are on the small size.
Wonderful help thanks
Please consider doing a short video on the long term results of no-dig gardening practices on soil health and composition into the soil horizons. I love the yield comparisons between the dig and no-dig garden plots, but is there a substantial difference in soil health? Can you show a sample of native soil in that area versus the soil you have been adding compost materials to for a decade? Thanks for all you show and teach us!
So, I have one of your calendars from last year (forgot to order one this year, oops). I have a smaller veg garden and so am mostly trying to attend to your FIRST sowing dates of the veg I grow. What is confusing (to me): what date do I plant out the different seedlings started indoors? Are those the dates the OUTSIDE (sun logo) planting in the calendar? Is there a list of dates when seedlings can go outside? (This question is prob too complex for a youtube comment, sorry!)
Thank you for this!
My wife is a blessing, Charles. I was telling her about @All About The Garden, telling her which CD module trays I would like and some shears they offer. She put everything in the cart… then doubled my trays and added a dibber!
Any chance you could do a Southern Hemisphere version of this video (and calendar) please Charles? 😉
This is a fantastic video! thank you!
Wonderful, thank you lots !
Do you soak pea and bean seeds before planting? I was always told to.
I just donated several old vegetable gardening books to a charity shop, but perhaps I should have put into paper recycling as much of the information was outdated.
These youtube videos are so helpful 🙂
Interesting advice on waiting until Spring Solstice to plant Onion Sets. Makes total sense. Thanks!
Charles! I need some guidance…
Every load of compost I've made so far seems to get quite hot then within a month it goes dark and the worms move in. What I end up with is this strange vermicast type compost that isn't very compost like…
Ive had one load do this with lots of browns, one with lots of greens and one now with what I thought to be roughly 50/50 volume…
What am I missing here!? The stuff seems to be decent for topping off soil but I can't get good seed germination.. losing my mind at this point lol please help!
This is amazing! SO MUCH useful information, I kept pausing to make notes. Thank you so much Charles. I have bought your calendar but this clarifies a lot.