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Early vegetables bring the fresh taste of spring

Early vegetables, with careful choice and protection from the weather, are very welcome after the drab winter when the vegetable garden looks forlorn and you maybe having to buy vegetables.

There are various alternatives; overwinter crops, choice of early crops, early varieties, and use of protection.

The issue early on is low ground and air temperatures, combined with short day length, can mean slow/ no germination or plant growth and frosts that can kill tender young plants.

Early vegetable crops and varieties

early asparagus Several crops can overwinter well providing tasty early eating;
  • Overwinter - early spring: curly kale, calabrese broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, winter spinach, parsnips and leeks
  • Spring: sprouting broccoli, spring cabbage, chard and asparagus

Asparagus, once established, can provide 6 weeks of mouth watering 'posh' living in spring - imagine your own asparagus spears: fresh, packed full of taste, 'saying' eat me!

Early spring sown -> late spring harvest;

  • First early potatoes under glass in a 'cold' frame; pick a fast maturing variety like Swift (UK) and you can have tasty, fresh new potatoes in 6 weeks!
  • Early carrots, sown under fleece; pick a fast growing early variety like Nantes (UK) so you can enjoy delicious fresh carrots in 6-8 weeks

Other early sown crops include radish, beetroot and lettuce but choose an appropriate variety for planting in early spring.

You can also start an early crop indoors/ under cover and then transplant your early vegetables outdoors when conditions are favorable.

Late spring sown crops;

  • Bring forward crops of cucumber, courgettes and squash and tomatoes, peppers and aubergine by sowing under glass then transplanting under fleece to warm the ground and air and protect from frosts
  • you can gain about a month from providing ideal conditions for growth

Protection for early vegetable crops

There are all sorts of ways of bring on early crops including use of horticultural fleece, weed membrane, plastic or glass cloches, cold frames, wind breaks and for the few with space poly-tunnels or a glass/ green house. More on this another time.

You can spend much money - but it is easy to recycle materials (wood and glass) to build a cold frame, and attach inexpensive fleece over wire hoops or pole frames to protect vegetables of all types and sizes. A word of caution though - remember the wind - anchor the fleece thoroughly!

Plastic drinks bottles can be recycled as little cloches by cutting the base off and placing over young plants, lettuces, and transplants to get them started and then remove in warmer weather. Remember to attach to a stake with string so they don't blow away!

To find more information;


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