March

Plants and the soil will benefit from a feed. Use seaweed, compost tea, weed tea or worm tea, sprayed over any foliage or the soil early in the morning. It will get your soil life pumping for autumn growth. Use a watering can or hose-on applicator.

A healthy soil will ensure a healthy, nutrient dense food - https://bit.ly/3XOw7Ud 

Develop good watering routines. Deep watering once every few days to develop strong, resilient plants that can cope with the vagaries of our weather. Water well, then add a thick layer of mulch. Even though your vegetable gardens might not have yet been planted, all the other micro-organisms will need the soil to be moist.

"Gardening by the phases of the moon dates back thousands of years, but is there any evidence that planting or harvesting in coordination with the lunar cycles really helps? We know the moon has a tremendous influence on our planet, but will I get better vegetables if I plant with the waxing or waning moon in a certain star sign?"1 

Check out this moon planting guide - https://bit.ly/3XvMWTE 

1. https://empressofdirt.net/moon-gardening/

I'll plant garlic on April 6 on the full moon.

Consider bed rotations - a four-bed rotation looks like this - Legumes, Leafy greens, Fruit crops(tomatoes etc), Root crops (see below)

Take care with the amendments you add to each bed. Compost will be fine on all four. We really careful with blood and bone on the root crop bed.

Start your flowering plants now- zinnia, cosmos, marigold, ammi majus (Queen Anne's lace), and  nasturtiums. They'll attract pollinators and beneficial insects. Consider placement depending whether they’re a companion or decoy plant.  Decoys need to be placed away from your crops.

You may be able to get a green manure crop into the bed that will become the leafy green bed. Any of the beans will fix nitrogen (you’ll dig them in so even broad beans will work). Cowpea, millet, lablab, mung bean, marigolds and soybean will all work. This will provide biomass which contribute towards healthy soils.

Lots of organic material in either sandy or clayey soils will help buffer against pH movement.

If you're planning on growing from seed, you can start some of them in seedling trays.

Check out the guide below to work out when to plant different seeds.
https://bit.ly/3IHRthQ 

Allow time to move seedlings out into the sun to harden off.

Mulch "empty" beds to control weeds, and to encourage worms and other shredders to help prepare your beds. Never leave beds without a cover. Pull back the mulch to plants seeds or seedlings.

Succession planting is about having regular small quantities of produce pickable, rather than a glut of produce that you either pickle or take to the monthly Produce Swap.

This spreadsheet might be useful if you're a bit geeky. Otherwise, the aim is to plant smaller quantities more regularly.

https://bit.ly/3xGlfxd