Growing vegetables

Seeds
Sow maincrop onion seeds as soon as your soil warms up (around 50 degrees f or 10 degrees c) – end of Feb to beginning of April for an August to September crop.

Sow the onion seeds very thinly into drills 7mm(1/4") deep, in rows 30cm(12") apart. finely cover the seeds with soil and gently water in. Germination takes around three weeks.

Thin out your onion seedlings when they have pushed through the soil and are standing vertical to about 3cm (1") apart and then again later to 12cm (4") apart. Thin carefully when the soil is moist and remove thinnings from the bed so as not to attract onion fly.

Onion sets
Plant out your onion sets mid March to mid April... 12cm (4") apart in rows 30cm (12"). Make a small hole in the soil and plant the onion set so the growing tip is just at the surface. Firm and water in.

It is best to sow parsnip seeds in late winter or early spring - but you can still get a decent crop if you sow in early summer.

Sow in a 2cm deep drill and space the seeds to about 5cm apart. Make the rows at least 35cm apart.

Choose a calm, windless day to sow as the seeds are very light and feathery and blow away easily.

Raise in a propagator or under glass from February to March at around 19 degrees (65F)

Sow the seed quite sparely and then sieve compost to cover them. Stand the container (foil tray, seed tray, yoghurt pot, anything so long as it has drainage) in water to let the compost soak it up. If you water from above you’ll wash away the seeds.

Wrap up in clingfilm or cover with glass if you don’t have a propagator and they shouldn’t need watering again until they’ve germinated. This should take about 8 – 11 days.

As soon as you see them poke up through the soil, take off the cover and lead out of direct sunlight in a bright place.

When the seedlings are big enough to handle you are ready to pot them on. Make sure they’ve been watered ahead of time and have some containers filled with compost and a hole made with a pencil for each plant. Ease out your seedlings and making sure you touch the leaves, NOT the stems, move to their new pots, with the first set of leaves just above the compost surface. Firm and water well.

Harden off the seedlings carefully. This means preparing the young plants for the world outside.

Put them in a cold frame at first with the lid off during the day, but cover up on cold nights.

In early summer, when they are about 6 – 8 inches tall, plant outside in a sunny, sheltered spot, putting climbing types 45cms (18ins) apart and the bush ones 60cm (24in) apart. Mulch them and cover them with fleece or cloches (you can use clear 2L water bottles, with the ends cut off).

Sow in rows in watered drills about 18 ins apart, thinly at a depth of 2cm on light soils, or ½ inch on heavier ground.

Sow directly into the prepared soil in late spring in cold areas, or in early summer in warmer regions. Thin the seeds about three weeks after sowing, but try to transplant because they hate being disturbed. The final spacing of the young plants should be about 10ins apart.

Start sowing indoors in late winter, and transplant into the garden when the soil has warmed and there’s no danger of frost.

Plant the seedlings about 18 to 24 inches apart – a dozen plants should provide enough peppers for most families.

Radishes can be sown from early spring until early autumn, thinly, in drills about 1cm deep that have already been watered. Make small sowings throughout the season, and grow them among the slower-growing crops to fill gaps.