"Nick Maclaren" wrote after
"Alan Holmes" writes:
|
| I never know when to start planting things and I'm sure there must be
others
| who would also welcome a reminder of what to sow, and when.
|
| So, who is going to volunteer?

I am going to point out that all answers you will receive will necessarily
be twaddle. The problem is that it is very variable, and depends on how
the weather is going to develop. And you know how reliable the long-term
forecasts are! This is what I put in the weather FAQ:

Q.b6: What sort of growing season does the UK get?

A: Based on soil temperatures 30 cm down, the MAFF (Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) figures for pasture are between 200 and
250 days for most of the UK, but extending to more than 300 in the West
Country and below 150 as you get up into Scotland. The expected
variation is plus or minus 20 days, and plus or minus 40 is not rare.
The USA seems to use the definition of the time from the last spring
frost to the first autumn one, but that is largely irrelevant to the UK.

While that is season, I did and do mean EXPECTED variation and PLUS OR
MINUS. I forget how much variation was at the start, and how much at
the end, but let's assume equality and a normal distribution. That
implies an EXPECTED variation of 30 days in the planting dates and a
'not rare' one of 60.


I'd go along with that, treat each season as stand alone is our motto
although over the years one builds up an idea, call it an educated guess, of
what to plant when for your soil and location. Even then a few years back we
got a grass frost on the 9th June, after planting out all the tender stuff,
which killed everything.
And it could well be different a mile down the road.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK