Grow Your Own Salad - What To Sow In March In The UK

On a hot, sunny, summers day is there anything better than a lovely fresh salad for lunch? A big plate overflowing with tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, chunks of chedder cheese, fresh ham, pork pie . . . gosh the list is virtually endless!! But if you don’t want to rely on the supermarket for your fresh vegetables then now is the time to start sowing some of your favourites so you can grow your own salad for the summer.

With this plan in mind, here is our simple guide to what you could be sowing in March ready for your salad plate . . . depending on the Great British Weather of course!

“My salad bowl is filled to the brim with all the colours of the earth.”

There are simply so many different salad crops than you can start planting in March, it’s hard to know where to start! So we’ve listing them in order of planting date – although you should always check your seed packets – and the weather – to help you decide when to sow. 

Sow In Early March To Grow Your Own Salad

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are really easy to grow from seed – you don’t need to buy them from the garden centre already started as they are so simple! Just select a variety to suit where it’s going to be grown – a bit like a tomato plant the plants grow quite large so it’s not something you can grow on a windowsill until it’s ready to harvest. We would recommend choosing a variety which you can grow in your greenhouse, although there are varieties which can be grown outdoors but then you are very much in the hands of the Great British Weather!

When To Sow Cucumber Seeds Depending on whether you are sowing your cucumber seeds in a heated or unheated area will affect when you should sow them. For a heated greenhouse, conservatory, or spare room then you can sow from mid-February onwards. If you are starting them in an unheated greenhouse, then ideally wait until early April.

For even more information on growing cucumbers, together with helpful information and advice, click here to see our Cucumber Growing Guide.

Tomatoes

One of the UK’s favourite vegetables – well we know it’s a fruit but it’s always found on the aisles with all the salad veg – is the tomato !! A poll carried out in 2022 saw it come in second place after the humble potato . . . it’s just one of those foods which we can’t seem to be without and is found in so many recipe as well as being eaten as part of a traditional salad.

Luckily for us tomatoes are really easy to grow – and if you grow your own, you’ll find a much wider range of varieties to choose from than those you would find in your supermarket or greengrocers. 

Over 10,000 Varieties  From the tiny grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, pear tomatoes, plum tomatoes, up to the 'beefy' big beefsteak tomatoes you will be spoilt for choice! Take a look at the picture opposite, this shows some sweet yellow cherry tomatoes plus some big beefsteak tomatoes - just raised in our Derbyshire allotment in 2022.

Sow In Mid March To Grow Your Own Salad

Beetroot

“Beetroot is a great salad ingredient, especially when still warm; the colour ain’t bad, either.”
Courtesy of British chef, restaurateur, and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi 

Depending on the variety of beetroot you choose to grow and whether it will be sown under cover or not will affect when you can sow the seeds. We raise ours from seed in a polytunnel so in this way we can start sowing from late February.

You Can't Have Toooo Much Beetroot  We are lucky enough to have a large allotment and as you can see this gives us lots of space for growing beetroot. When it's harvest time, if we have any left over, we will pickle it in vinegar . . . or it can be frozen. But our preferred option is to pick, boil, skin and eat . . . beetroot this way is simply the best!

If you don't want a glut of beetroot then you can stagger the sowing . . . sow small batches every couple of weeks and then you can harvest in small batches too. You can start off under cover from February and continue through to July, as the days get warmer you can be sowing directly into the ground, so depending on the Great British Weather and which part of the country you live, this can be from late March onwards. 

For more information on growing beetroot, together with helpful information and advice, click here to see our Common Sense Approach to Growing Beetroot.

Carrots

“Who cares if a carrot has a slight bend? They’re all the same when they end up on the plate.”
Courtesy of Tristram Stuart, author, speaker, campaigner and expert on the environmental and social impacts of food. 

We are all familiar with having boiled or roast carrots with our Sunday lunch, but during the summer adding raw, grated carrot to your salad plate is an excellent way to add even more fibre and vitamins to your diet. It also adds a lovely colour and texture to the plate.

So, if you don’t want to rely on shop bought carrots . . . tinned carrots . . . or frozen carrots . . . and maybe want to try a different variety than you would find on your local store shelf, then growing your own carrots is a great option.

There are lots of varieties to choose from, with early varieties which you can sow from February onwards when you protect them with garden fleece or a cloche through to the main crop varieties which you can sow outdoors from April through to early July.

For more information on growing carrots, plus extra information and advice on this popular root crop, click here to see our Carrot Growing Guide.

Did you know?
If you were to eat about a dozen carrots every day for about a fortnight then your skin can start to get a bit yellow-orangish due to the beta carotene, a naturally occurring pigment in carrots. This discolouration is likely to occur on your palms, soles of your feet or other areas of your skin where there are lots of sweat glands. This discolouration is harmless and will go away when you stop eating so many.

Sow In Late March To Grow Your Own Salad

Potatoes

In the supermarket you’ll find a huge range of potatoes to buy, but we normally put them into two main groups – potatoes and ‘new’ potatoes, with a huge variety available in each group. And it’s the same if you are deciding to grow your own – standard potatoes which you might use for roasting or making chips or mash – are what are classed as ‘maincrop’ varieties. These maincrop potatoes are usually planted mid to late April. Whilst ‘new’ potatoes are called ‘earlies’ and as the name suggests can be planted earlier! So you can have ‘first earlies’ which you plant around late March and ‘second earlies’ which are planted early to mid-April.

Did You Know?  Did you know that the humble spud . . . potato . . . tater . . . or however you want to call it was voted as the UK’s favourite vegetable in a 2022 poll? Is there any wonder, with the wide range of ways potatoes can be cooked . . . boiled, mashed, steamed, baked, roast, deep fried . . . so many choices.

Traditionally potatoes are grown in rows, spacing them 12 to 15 inches apart and 4 to 5 inches deep. This type of planting obviously calls for a fair amount of growing space . . . so an allotment or kitchen garden. But more modern options are available when you have limited space.

Just like with any hobby, you’ll come across some jargon that people will say that you don’t understand. But if this is the first time you’re growing potatoes don’t be put off. One of the things you’ll hear about is ‘chitting’. Might sound strange but it’s a simple process when you know what it is and can reap benefits. For more details click here to see our useful guide on Chitting Potatoes.

This post has been created from our personal knowledge, information gathered by speaking to other gardeners or manufacturers in the gardening industry, by reading gardening magazines and devouring information from books and the internet. We aim to be as accurate as we can, so if you find a mistake, please remember, we’re only human.