But Benedict, who runs the Grow Veg YouTube Channel, says March is a great time to sow some key crops in order to get an “earlier and more reliable” harvest. Among those seeds that Benedict likes to plant now is the tomato, a crop he likes to grow a “variety of”. In a video, Benedict said: “Tomatoes are one of those crops that I find myself almost beside myself with excitement waiting for. And a tomato plucked from the plant and popped straight into the mouth in one greedy movement…pure ambrosia.”
Benedict says the best time to sow your tomatoes is around six to eight weeks before we expect to see the last frost. This he says means the tomatoes won’t be “too far ahead” when the weather changes.
He suggests using an all-purpose soil into a pot to sow the seeds, labelling the varieties if you are using more than one. He then picks up the seeds one at a time and spaces them out across the pot, leaving around half an inch between each seed.
Once the seeds have been placed in the pot, Benedict likes to put them on a heatmat so they can blossom into seedlings. These can then be placed in their own pots to create a “sturdy plant”.
He then waits for the last frost to pass before planting the young tomatoes into his garden. March is also a time when Benedict likes to plant his potatoes.
He said: “Depending on where you’re growing, roundabout now is a great time to get your seed potatoes in the ground or nestled into their cushion of nutrient-rich potting mix.”
The gardener however says you need to “exercise a little bit of caution” when planting your spuds due to the potential of frost. He however says it’s worth planting now in order to get an early harvest.
He encourages fellow horticulturalists to wait for their seed potatoes to start sprouting before planting. Although he admits it’s not an “essential” step, Benedict says it lets him get ahead of the harvest.
He likes to place his seed potatoes into a large pot in his greenhouse so he can “molly-coddle them for the first few weeks”. Elsewhere Benedict enjoys garden-grown peas, saying they are a “world apart” from the frozen peas you find in shops.
Benedict explains that “hardy peas” can be sown from early spring. He says they should be put into plug trays first to keep them away from slugs and pigeons.
Gardeners looking to plant onions in their plot are being told there’s “just enough” time to get in now, putting them in “sets”.
An unconventional choice, Benedict says, is kohlrabi. The vegetable looks “a bit like a baby alien head” and comes from the same family as cabbage and broccoli.
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