With the warmer weather we've seen over the last few weeks,we thought it's about time to take a trip out to the garden 'Down at Heald Farm'. With the raised beds built and the manure dug into the soil to provide extra growth promoting nutrients, Rachael thinks it's time to get sowing...

Raised Bed 1
As I have never had a vegetable garden before I am open to having a go at growing pretty much anything and everything so the first vegetable I decided to plant was onions!

I bought onions sets (these are tiny baby onions) rather than seeds as they already have a head start and therefore are a little easier for an amateur like me to grow. They are also incredibly easy to plant, simply push them a couple of centimetres into the ground 10 - 15cm apart and ‛hey presto!' - which is probably why I got a little carried away and now have a whole bed of various types such as red onions, white onions, shallots and spring onions.

I believe Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall of ‛River Cottage' once said that he is less inclined to grow onions over other vegetables as they are cheap to buy and easy to get hold and who am I to argue but I must admit I am really looking forward to making rich, heart warming beef stroganoffs this winter with my own home-grown shallots, finely chopping up milder red onions to add to salads or home-made vinaigrettes, adding strong, sweet tasting spring onions to stir fries and potato salads and platting together the white onions to hang up (and show off!) in my larder.

Despite, the onion planting frenzy we did manage to squeeze in a couple of rows of leeks and broad beans in this bed too.

Raised Bed 2 The next bed now contains mostly salad leaves - iceberg lettuce, spinach, rocket and ‛cut and come again' mixed salad leaves. These are a variety that, after a month or so, you can remove the oldest leaves whilst leaving the plant in the ground to produce further growth which can be harvested later. A single row across a bed of about 1-2 metres should keep a small family happy, but it's important keep the plants well watered.

The salad seeds were sown directly into the soil, 10-15 mm deep in drills 35 cms apart. Remember each seed has the potential for one plant, so sow sparingly. About 1 row of each variety every 2- 3 weeks should keep you and your family in plentiful supply.

Nigel advises me I should feed the lettuce plants with liquid seaweed starting once a week after germination and water overhead with a watering can fitted with a rose, (one can full per row would not be too much). The seaweed is a natural product and contains all the major nutrients the plants will need whilst keeping to our organic principles.

Raised Bed 3
The third bed (the brassica bed) has now been sown with celeriac, Brussel sprouts and a variety of different cabbages. To my surprise a few Jerusalem artichokes have sprung forth too as my husband attempted to grow a few last year and as we used some of this soil in the new raised beds they have re-sprouted. I adore artichokes so that prompted us to build a second half width bed (as we did for the asparagus) and dedicate it entirely to artichokes. The beauty of this is that they are perennial so will hopefully spring forth each year without the need for re-sowing.

Raised Bed 4 Finally, the fourth bed has been sewn with a few more rows or broad beans, peas, dwarf French beans and sugar snap peas.

As you may have noticed I haven't yet mentioned the humble potato. All the extra work of establishing the garden and building the raised beds has apparently meant that we missed our opportunity to plant early and second early potatoes which would have been ready from June onwards.

However, I have decided to create three more beds - this time straight into the ground as a sort of experiment to see whether raised beds (as opposed to growing straight out of the ground) really are worth the extra effort.

One of the three extra beds are now filled with potatoes which were left ‛chitting' (sitting in a cool, dark place to grow sprouts) in our larder for a few weeks before. In the other two beds I plan to have a competition with my two boys (Barney and Brook, aged 6 and 8) to see who can grow the biggest pumpkins, marrows and squashes so I'll keep you posted...

Finally, Barney and Brook have also decided to have their own little competition and have planted a few sunflower seeds around the edges of some of the beds so all being well, they should brighten the place up in a couple of months.

For more gardening advice and for how to get our little gnomes involved click here

Now is not the right time for tomatoes and squashes but certainly carry on sowing :- carrots, spring onions, beetroot, radish, broad beans [but not French or runners , they are not frost hardy] new potatoes ,if you haven't already, parsnips, peas, spinach, Swiss chard and those sweet little white turnips. The end of this month will see us looking ahead to those crops that will stay in the garden over the winter, leeks, sprouts etc.

How to sow neatly ....

If using a raised bed system use the walls of the bed as rails to hold a suitable piece of straight timber [one that overlaps] as a guide then drag a trowel down the edge forming a straight shallow drill.

How to Create Your Very Own Asparagus Bed .....

The asparagus in the bed at Heald farm has now started to shoot, but we won't be able to harvest any spears for the next two, or even three years. The new shoots will be left to mature into the characteristic fern and that way the root system will increase in strength, we will be feeding with the liquid seaweed but monthly this time, asparagus is not a big feeder.

We planted two different types of plant; bare root crowns and pot grown plants, you can also buy seed raised young plants. All types will take 2-3 years before cropping.

We chose a site sheltered from the wind and in full sun. The fern of the plant is brittle so needs shelter from the worst of the wind, our site has an open fence at the back, so plenty of air but a degree of shelter.

Asparagus growing tips ....

• Don't grow new plants on the site of an old asparagus bed after many years growing the same crop serious root disease can be present.
• Avoid frost pockets; this phenomenon occurs at the bottom of a slope. Cold air being heavier than warm rolls down the hill and gathers in the hollow frosting and damaging any new and tender shoots.
• Asparagus are maritime plants so love a free draining soil. It's not necessary to grow them on a raised bed just one that is well drained. If in doubt add lots of sharp sand to the bed.