The Vegetable Plot – March

Let’s get sowing

In early March you can make the first small sowing of summer spinach and, as alliterative as that sounds, ideally sow into a sheltered border with a southern aspect. Sow thinly in drills 1” (25mm) and 1ft (300mm) apart. You can make more successional sowings later.

Maincrop onions sown in drills will benefit from plenty of farmyard manure beneath them whilst on top wood ash can be mixed with the soil to lighten it and let the bulbs swell.


You can make a main sowing of celery for a supply from October on through the winter and broad beans can be sown in boxes in a heated frame for planting out, as can brassicas: cauliflowers, summer broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbages for midsummer if you had not started them off in February. It’s a good time to sow cucumbers for successional cropping.

• Sow carrots and leeks in mid March
• Plant out cauliflowers from September sowing
• Harden off vegetable seedlings 
• Sow French beans under glass for succession
• Prick off early celery
• Sow celeriac, aubergines and capsicums under glass