It’s March and time to sow some seeds, at long last! Don’t get too ahead of yourself though, the ground is still very cold and the last frost date hasn’t passed. There are, however, lots of vegetable seeds to sow in March. So start writing down what you’re most excited about growing and let’s see what we can whack out right now.
If you’re looking for some more unusual crops to try this year, take some inspiration from my blog post where I explore some different varieties!
Most seeds will need to be started indoors or in a greenhouse at this time of year, so make sure you have enough room and light before starting to sow. A few things can be direct sowed and covered with a horticultural fleece. You can even start warming up the soil by covering in some fleece, groundsheet or even using old greenhouse glass panels on top of raised beds.
Seeds to start in March – Indoors
Brassicas
Sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflowers and calabreese can all be started at this time of year. To ensure a long harvest, sow a few seeds now and then a few more next month. This will ensure you have something to continuously harvest.
Sow the tiny seeds into trays and prick out once they have their true leaves. Grow on until they are nice and big to prevent slugs from destroying them the second they go outside!
Cosmos
Cosmos flowers are fantastic for pollinators thanks to their open flower heads. They also make great cut flowers. Sow some indoors in a tray now and then pot on later. They do well in pots as well as borders!
Peas
I always start my early peas indoors to prevent the mouse from getting them before they have germinated. You can, however, start them straight outside and they should germinate well even in the colder soil.
Sweet peas
If you haven’t already started your sweet peas, you can do it now! Sweet peas can tolerate a little cold so if your ones are nice and big already, think about getting them out in the ground towards the end of this month.
Soak your sweet pea seeds in water overnight before planting to help with germination. Sweet pea flowers have nice long roots, so choose pots or trays that are deeper.
Tomatoes
I’ve already started my tomato plants to get a head start on the season. My tomatoes will be going into my poly tunnel so will be quite protected. March is a great time to start your seeds though. Make sure you keep them warm, a warm windowsill is perfect!
Peppers and Chillis
Peppers are warm loving seeds and plants so be sure to keep them warm to help encourage germination.
Sunflowers
Towards the end of March, I’ll start my sunflowers. This year I’m going to make sure they are nice and big before putting them outside as they are a particular favourite of the slugs and snails!
Seeds to sow in March – Outside
Parsnips
I’ve already started my parsnips outside and covered with a cloche. Parsnips need a really long growing season, so the earlier you can get them to germinate the better! A lot of people swear that parsnips need warmer soil temperatures to germinate, but my personal experience is that they have worked fine in Feb!
Carrots
I’ve also started some carrots. The Nantes work really well at this time of year. Simply cover with some cloche or fleece to keep warm and protected.
Radish
I’ve started some radish outside already. The variety I’ve chosen is Bright lights. It germinated within one week of being put outside, so I have high hopes!
Onion and Garlic
You can still whack out your onion and garlic directly. If you prefer, start them in trays first and plant out once they have some nice green stems.
I am trying not to sow too much, but like I said I do want to get a bit of a head start on the season this year. A lot fo what I’m starting now indoors I’ll probably direct sow as well to make sure I definitely get some good crops this year.
Come back and see what I sow in April when the weather started to warm up and we can really start whacking everything out!
Have you started any seeds yet?
