January. Almost nothing outdoors, and there is no honest way to dress that up. Under cover on a bright windowsill you can start a tray of Lettuce Mix for cutting in six weeks. Otherwise this is a planning month: work out where each bed is going and order what you are short of.
February. Tomato Red Cherry goes in on a warm windowsill towards the end of the month — earlier than that and the seedlings grow leggy waiting for light. Lettuce Mix continues under cover.
March. The month everything starts. Broccoli Calabrese, Cabbage Purple and Turnip Purple Top can go in, Lettuce Romaine starts its fortnightly rhythm, Giant Spinach goes in as soon as the ground is workable, and Green Peas Petit go in as the soil warms. Cucumber Supermarketer starts indoors.
April. Carrot Chantenay, Red Beet and Chard Green Broad join in. Keep sowing lettuce. Last call indoors for cucumbers.
May. Cabbage Purple has until the end of the month. Everything sown indoors comes out once the nights hold above 10 °C — not before, however tempting the forecast looks.
June. Broccoli Calabrese and Green Peas Petit have their last window. Succession sowings of Lettuce Romaine, Carrot Chantenay, Red Beet and Chard Green Broad carry on.
July. Last sowings of Carrot Chantenay, Red Beet and Chard Green Broad. Keep the lettuce going — a July sowing is the one that feeds you in September.
August. Giant Spinach for autumn and winter picking, Turnip Purple Top for a last quick crop, and lettuce for October. This is the most underrated sowing month of the year.
September. Lettuce Mix outdoors while the soil is still warm, Giant Spinach in the first half of the month.
October. Outdoors, honestly, very little. Green Peas Petit sown now sit through the winter and crop weeks earlier than a spring sowing — worth a gamble in a well-drained bed. Lettuce Mix under a cloche or on a windowsill will keep cutting.
But October is not really a sowing month in Britain: it is the month to plan and stock up. The ground is finished, the catalogues are out, and everything you want for March is available now and will not be in a hurry come February.
November. Last chance for overwintering Green Peas Petit in milder districts. Lettuce Mix under cover.
December. Nothing outdoors. Lettuce Mix on a windowsill if you want something green. Read, plan, and sharpen tools.
