Pushing up the daisies

Someone on A4A posted a brilliant link to a site that has a seed planting guide that works in relation to your last frost free date in your area.
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-19-212,00.html
Being a bit of a clever dick, I pasted it onto Excel and set up some calculations so I could see exactly when I need to be sowing my seeds!!
Hmm what will happen if I paste that in here??? Bugger, I have had to swap it from Excel to HTML to bloody stupid Word, but it has finally worked it seems. I didn't actually know exactly the last frost free date here, I know that generally in May here it is warming up so, hopefully this will be OK:

The Spring Frost-Free Date in My Garden is 01/05/2008

CROP	WHEN TO START INSIDE	DAYS FROM SOWING	SAFE TO SET OUT TIME (RELATIVE TO FROST-FREE DATE)	SETTING OUT DATE
Basil	27/03/2008	42	1 week after	08/05/2008
Beets*	13/03/2008	35	2 weeks before	17/04/2008
Broccoli	13/03/2008	35	2 weeks before	17/04/2008
Cabbage	28/02/2008	35	4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Cauliflower	13/03/2008	35	2 weeks before	17/04/2008
Collards	28/02/2008	35	4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Corn*	17/04/2008	21	0 to 2 weeks after	08/05/2008
Cucumber	17/04/2008	21	1 to 2 weeks after	08/05/2008
Eggplant	12/03/2008	64	2 to 3 weeks after	15/05/2008
Kale	28/02/2008	35	4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Kohlrabi*	28/02/2008	35	4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Lettuce	06/03/2008	28	3 to 4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Melons	24/04/2008	21	2 weeks after	15/05/2008
Mustard*	28/02/2008	35	4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Okra*	10/04/2008	35	2 to 4 weeks after	15/05/2008
Onions	14/02/2008	49	4 weeks before	03/04/2008
Parsley	13/02/2008	64	2 to 3 weeks before	17/04/2008
Peas*	23/02/2008	21	6 to 8 weeks before	15/03/2008
Peppers	06/03/2008	70	2 weeks after	15/05/2008
Pumpkins	24/04/2008	21	2 weeks after	15/05/2008
Spinach	28/02/2008	35	3 to 6 weeks before	03/04/2008
Squash	24/04/2008	21	2 weeks after	15/05/2008
Swiss chard	13/03/2008	35	2 weeks before	17/04/2008
Tomatoes	27/03/2008	49	1 to 2 weeks after	15/05/2008
* These crops are usually direct-seeded outdoors, but they can be started inside.

To be fair I don't plant all of these and I always start beets and spinach off directly in place, but I guess that in that case it will give me the approximate sowing times under cover?? I think it is quite a clever system, and will be a big help. Except I can see that once again the house will be invaded with loads of small pots and trays, driving the OH up the wall. He hates gardening stuff. Maybe I can persuade him to buy me one of those balcony greenhouses made of a shelf covered in plastic, then I can stick it outside the window and save some space.
I looked again at the seed catalogue and I was right, the DT Brown seeds site is considerably cheaper for a number of items, especially the beans and peas which are almost half the price in comparison with Willemse!! And already Willemse was cheaper than many of the seeds I saw in garden centres last year... So I think I shall buy the seeds from the UK and only buy the spuds and onion sets here.

Labels: planning, planting, seedlings, winter