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What to sow in March for a Cottage Garden.



A guide for what to plant in March in Zone 9, Central Portugal

Things mentioned in this video:
Vegega Raised Beds: Use code Frankie10 for a 10% discount
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Hori Hori Kitchen Knife

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Beijinos e abraços,
Carissa, Iwan, Frankie & Albi

Carissa, Iwan & Frankie decided one night over a bottle of wine that moving from North Wales to Portugal would be a good idea. Within a month they were on the road to Portugal to find the perfect piece of land to call their new home. We picked up Albi the cat along the way. Subscribe to follow our journey as we turn an old stone barn into our home, and learn the ropes of looking after a piece of land to make an abundant garden and one day, our very own winery.

45 Comments

  1. Wendy Beirne

    I love the garden videos, please can we have them all the time. It's so nice to see what your planting. ❤

  7. Robyn Clarke

    For the future, planting tomatoes deeper will give them a better hold onto the ground. If you take off the bottom leaves then plant half way up the stalk then stake. So glad to see you companion plant and mix so many flowers with your veg. Failures are learning opportunities. You may like to try perpetual spinach, which grows well when you pick often.

  8. Katy Mutch

    Your videos have the same effect as the hibiscus tea 😌 so calming, and always really impressed how you keep track of everything too.

  9. Cathy Thomas

    Thanks! Very helpful video! 👌 can you give us a rough estimate of how much you spent on soil amendments in Portugal for one of those raised beds with the Hugelkulture? Also don't plant your cucumbers near melons…

  11. Mary Bates

    Equinox blessings and happy spring. Those plug plants are huge. What form of cultivation style did you say you were doing? As i couldn't catch what you said is, plus, im not sure i would know what it actually is. I never knew you could eat rocket flowers but that is handy to know as mine normally end up flowering. I have never thought of looking at germination times then discarding if nothing appears. Very handy tip. Thank you. Does rhubarb grow well in Portugal? X

  12. Julie King

    Have you thought about growing calendula? If you dry the flower heads you can make your own healing calendula salve. Calendula has antibacterial
    , anti inflammatory and healing properties.

  13. Patty Kelly

    Well, you have made it to Spring. Where I am in central California it's cold and wet. We celebrated the equinox with thunder and lightening. My plantings will be so late this year. I direct seed, nothing starts in my unheated greenhouse.

  17. Michele BUSHNIK

    Nastursium seeds need to be soaked in water at least overnight to help soften the hard seed pod! The variety I grow here are in early morning sun, then shade rest if day, and are edible flowers. The vines grow long. Love watching your seed choices, I bought some giant golden amaranth seeds, and will start trays tonight actually, in my big south facing window. We are still winter cold in Reno, Nevada. Thank you for sharing!

  19. The Good life off grid living

    I only dun my potatoes To do my other veg, but as I’m going to Portugal next month for a month really want to plant anything I find out I’ve lost it all when I come back trip back to Portugal. Hopefully with some good news take care

  20. JWoods

    I wonder if your peas are suffering from root rot. If it is root rot, you would need to pull all your peas and burn them. Then, soak the entire planting area with a mixture of 1 part of water and 1 part 3% hydrogen peroxide. When the ground is dry, you can plant your new peas.

  22. Wendy Horn

    How fun! I'm looking forward to watching your garden this year. Great varieties and tons of color. Happy planting!

  23. Eunice Henderson

    Have you tried to grow "Malabar Spinach"? Goes by different names around the world. Not actually a spinach but has the flavor of spinach. Easy to grow and trellis upward.

  24. Josephine Graham

    Hint planting tomatoes, plant very deep, at least half way up plant. You will get stronger growth. 🦘🇦🇺

  25. Despina C

    Carissa I really love your gardening videos, you are a great inspiration. I live in Greece, very similar climate. A few observations from a fellow gardener: 🍅Tomatoes do well when planted really deep. I cut off all the lower leaves and just leave the tips out. They also love a drench with diluted chicken manure once they are established (put a little bit of manure in a bucket of water and let it sit for a week or two and then dilute even more to water the plants. Fair warning: it stinks). 🥒I planted my cucumbers in January (unheated) and they took almost 4 weeks to sprout. Don't be too quick to discard them, sometimes they are just waiting for the right conditions, unlike impatient gardeners like me. 🥬For us it is too late for cabbages, spinach and all the other cold weather crops. They will bolt with the first heat of spring.
    I look forward to the April video and wish you happy gardening 💐

  26. Deborah Lee

    Love the garden beds, seeds and goodies. Have you heard of square foot gardening? I love planting flowers among the veggies. It brings pollinators and beneficial insects to help protect the plants. NASTURTIUMS …. for me they are like triffids, thrown some seed out, they'll grow when they are ready and know you'll have them forever. I hope your chickens dont "appreciate" your beds too. Olive timber makes beautiful wooden spoons if you like carving. You can let yourcarrots grow larger before thinning. A friend does it regularly but will gently loosen soil before pulling/twisting out baby carrots and patting back all the others to keep going. Its worth experimenting with time and techniques

  27. Helen Blatherwick

    Carissa, nasturtium grow best in poor soil. If you have a plant pot and the plant has died use the soil from that pot, gritty,sandy poor soil works best. Use your wood Ash as a soil conditioner. Veg will love it. Mix marigolds with carrots,as it deters the carrot fly, onions too. With your peas grow some flowers too. Okra, is lovely, freezes well. Tom's need lots of manure and water. You are going to be so busy, wild flowers in your meadow area will look great. Have a good week planting, don't be afraid to mix flowers with veg. Bees,butterflies will love it. I'm still learning, grow some spuds/ sweet potatoes in your compost heap too. Stay safe and enjoy life.

  28. Dikira

    🙏🙏 thanksyukroh two days a years firsth soiliner one day beauland some sparatize highbree and harvesth 15minutes a days even doesnt rainys goes by

  29. monica Cruz

    Hola, love your planting guide, I’m a supposed ‘seasoned’ gardener but also working in a new climate, your comments and assides (rouge matiz grown as a flower) are interesting and helpful. Btw, nigella seeds and onion seeds look similar looking, but taste very different. Impressive seed collection. Watch your spacing, that tomato/courgette raised bed will be v crowded, yes the courgette will tumble down and you can remove the lower leaves as they go over, but they are hungry plants, you might use a foliar feed (look at Huw’s garden ‘weeds in water) for free recipes). Just casually direct sow a few nasturtium at the edge of your beds, if you fuss over them they refuse to cooperate. Wishing you a super abundant garden 🌱🌱🌱

  30. Moonhunter

    I agree. You need a wood chipper. Nearby Veggies are doing wonders with theirs. It just seems a pity to burn all this organic material.

  31. Zlata Hume

    Now you got raised beds, try to push some nasturtium seeds on the edge of it on the shady side and hopefully they take😊

  32. Sue Cooper

    Nastursum need poor quality but well drained soil in a sunshine area to get the best out of them. Good luck

  33. Eva Bløcher

    So interesting to see what you can grow in Portugal and what is not so good, thank you. Just a piece of good advice – take up your tomato plants and plant them much deeper, actually a good idea is to plant them all the way up to where the first flowers are. If there is any leaves on the stem then you can remove them before you plant them so deep. All the best to you both.

  35. cecil montano

    You might want to consider using electric heating mats (seed germinating mats) that provide gentle bottom heat for sprouting seeds in trays. Might work in unheated greenhouse.

  37. Carol Bulmer

    Hi, Carissa. You certainly have a lot of planting to do…WOW! I’m thinking that you spend most of your waking hours in the garden. I’m impressed by your enthusiasm❤️👏👏👏👏👏

  40. Ron Guille

    Don't know if you can get it but New Zealand spinach is heat resistant, warm weather plant, so it does not bolt like regular spinach. Trying it for the first time myself. It is even grown in the hot climate of Florida, USA and does very well. A good self seeder. I've been told it is not so good eaten raw but good cooked.

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