Useful gardening help

[Polarengineer]

I have recently joined a group site for gardeners “Growveg.com” The veg planner allows me to plan next year’s veggie patch showing me where not to plant for rotation from last (this year’s) garden. I am slowly learning more about the site and get really good tips from “Ben” and his u-tube videos. His tips have allowed me -finally- to germinate parsnip seeds and ensure Onions grow well. Worth a look anyway.

[exile]

Parsnips are always difficult. Their germination rate is very low and after 1 year as near as damn it zero.

I have found that encapsulated seed gives a much better result. Available from graines-Baumaux.fr and probably many others.

Product rotation is very simple. For one plot, split into 4 lots:

Year 1, Lot 1 - Spuds, toms, aubergines
Lot 2 - Root veg. Onions, leeks, carrots
Lot 3 Brassicas * broccoli, cabbages, sprouts, swede, turnips
Lot 4 - Legumes - Beans, peas

Each year you move each lot one stage forward. So Lot 1 moves to last year's Lot 2 and so on with lot 4 moving to lot 1.

Some things to consider.

Lot 1 needs lots of nutrient - so lots of manure; fumier and compost dug in and surrounding the seed potatoes.
Lot 2 will not like lots of rich nutrients added - best to add nothing - but if dry summers persist, plant/sow very early
Lot 3 very hardy, better than most at withstanding drought. Need no special ground treatment.
Lot 4 needs roots kept moist and so benefit from compost dug into the soil a few centimetres down and then covered over

Be prepared to break the rules a bit. For me, broad beans do not survive our low winter overnight temperatures. Spring sown develop late and suffer drought, and so I have found a variety that is sown in late summer for harvest in October and this follows the new potatoes. Ditto turnips, which here struggle in summer heat

The rules are there for advice but be prepared to adept

[MAD87]

Sadly, I gave up gardening a couple of years ago when I became decrepit. I now have a great French gardener after several duds, but she will iinsist on pruning shrubs as though my garden was a public park, her only fault so far.
I neverr had a problem germinaating parsnips I mustr say though I did sow them thickly.

[Veem]

I gave up gardening a few years back when we were going through the first of many droughts. I had spent hours tending the broad beans, but got only one meal out of them. In terms of time, they simply were not worth it, though they rank amongst my favourite vegetables. What variety did you find which grows so well for you?