What to sow in March
Download list (PDF format)
As the weather warms up, more crops can be started off outside, although normally mid-March is the earliest time for all but the hardiest (broad beans, early peas, garlic and shallot sets). Many of the outside crops can also be started under cover.
Outside
- Broad beans and early peas
- Garlic (if not already sown) and shallot sets
- Leeks, onions, shallots and spring onions
- Lettuce, rocket, chard and spinach
- Early brassicas (brussels sprouts, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, kale, kohl rabi, sprouting broccoli)
- Parsnips
- Beetroots, carrots and turnips (check varieties)
- Radish
- Herbs: parsley, coriander and dill
- First early potatoes (late March)
- Asparagus crowns
Under Cover
- Broad beans
- Peas (including ones for shoots)
- Lettuce, rocket, chard and spinach
- Onions and salad onions
- Early brassicas (as above)
- Herbs: parsley, coriander, basil, fennel and dill
- Beetroots, carrots and turnips (check varieties)
- Celery
- Celeriac
- Radish
- Rhubarb
With Warmth
- Aubergines
- Peppers and chilli
- Tomatoes (by mid-March for under-cover cropping)
- Melons (end of March)
Related resources
Grow Your Own Vegetables
Excellent book on growing vegetables with sections on techniques, a directory of vegetables, seasonal guide to jobs, and appendices on veg for the hungry gap, successional sowing and more.
How to create a New Vegetable Garden
Charles Dowding draws on his years of experience, to show how easy it is to start a new vegetable garden. Any plot -- whether a building site, overgrown with weeds or unwanted lawn -- can be turned into a beautiful and productive vegetable area. Charles's no-nonsense and straightforward advice is the perfect starting point for the beginner or experienced gardener. The book takes you step-by-step through: * Planning and early stages * Clearing the ground * Mulch - what, why, how? * Minimizing digging * Sowing and planting across the seasons * Growing in polytunnels and greenhouses It is filled with labour-saving ideas and the techniques that Charles uses to garden so successfully, and is illustrated throughout with photos and tales from Charles's first year in his new vegetable garden.
Organic Gardening The Natural No-Dig Way
A very helpful book about growing fruit and vegetables organically and without digging.
RFGN Guide to Growing Beetroot
The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing beetroot.
RFGN Guide to Growing French Beans
The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing French beans, both climbing and dwarf.
RFGN Guide to Growing Onions
The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing onions.
RFGN Guide to Growing Radishes
The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing radishes.
RFGN Guide to Growing Salad Leaves
The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing salad leaves, including rocket.
RFGN Guide to Growing Squash
The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing squash.
Seed sowing techniques
Advice from the Royal Horticultural Society about how to sow seeds
Seed Viability Chart
Temperate Climate Permaculture's chart of seed viability times for the most common seeds used in gardens and farms