Grow vegetables outdoors - all year round

Fresh and homegrown vegetables taste better and feel better to eat. When you sow your crops directly in open ground or in planter boxes, there are some things to consider. We give you the best tips for success.

Sugar peas, beans, spinach, lettuce, arugula, radish, dill, carrot, and chard are examples of vegetables that are easy to grow yourself. They grow easily and yield crops in a relatively short time. Eventually, you can pick the vegetables directly from the garden or planter box

What is direct seeding?

Sowing seeds directly outdoors on the growing site - without first growing plants under more controlled and favorable conditions indoors - is called direct sowing. We are therefore skipping the step of pre-cultivation. Pre-cultivation often involves using mini greenhouses, extra light in the form of plant lights, and the use of heat mats under seed trays on the windowsill or in the hobby room. Direct sowing means that we lose some control over the growing process, but we save a lot of work and thus save a lot of time. For example, we avoid the work of repotting and acclimatizing the plants - that is, gradually acclimating the delicate small crops to outdoor conditions.

Direct sow in spring and fall, transplant in summer

The most common practice is to sow vegetable seeds directly in the soil at the outdoor growing site in the spring and early summer, in April, May, and June. The timing may vary slightly depending on the hardiness zone you live in. Once the frost has disappeared from the ground and the soil is adequately warm, it is possible to start sowing. The soil temperature should then be at least five degrees Celsius. In plant boxes, it is often possible to sow a little earlier as the soil dries and warms up faster there.

Tip! Measure the soil temperature using a soil thermometer.

Directly multiple times during the summer

Feel free to grow fast-growing vegetables like lettuce, arugula, radishes, sugar peas, and dill in succession. This way, you can harvest young, tender vegetables throughout the summer. It also means that not all vegetables will be ready for harvesting at the same time, making it easier to have time to create the delicious dishes you have planned for the season. You can of course grow completely different vegetables than the ones you sowed in spring and just harvested from the bed. Depending on what you sow and how quickly you harvest, you can improve the soil with more nutrients and fertilizer after the first harvest.

So early in the autumn - extend the growing season

August and September are good months to sow fast-growing vegetables again. It can be various types of lettuces, radishes, and Asian leafy greens, such as pak choi. Even trendy microgreens can be easily grown. They are also called "microgreens" and are small leaves of various salad varieties and other vegetables with edible leaves.

So directly in late autumn - harvest in until spring

In October and November, you can sow more vegetables again. Choose vegetables such as spinach, radish, winter lettuce, and other leafy greens. They come up quickly and like the shorter days. When October comes, the risk of frost damaging your plants increases. Therefore, choose your growing place carefully. Directly sow in places where the sun shines the most and where the risk of frost is lowest, for example, closest to a house wall or facing south. Cover frost-sensitive vegetables and plants with a fleece.

So directly in winter - harvest in the spring

If you choose to sow in December, January, and February, you can already harvest in the spring or early summer. The seeds lie dormant at first, and germinate when it gets warmer outside. When the ground is frozen, sprinkle soil from a bag over the seeds. Spinach, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, Asian leaf cabbage/pak choi, and onions are suitable varieties to sow at this time.

Here is how you sow outdoors in 6 simple steps

Prepare the soil:
Before sowing, prepare the soil by adding fertilizer and soil-improving materials. Bagged manure provides structure and nutrients. Compost and bark mulch are also good to use. Top it off with some sand-mixed seed soil for the seeds. The seed soil contains a small amount of nutrients suitable for small seeds.
Plant your seeds:
Plant the seeds in rows, making sure not to sow them too close together. This helps avoid the need to thin them out and disturb the plants once they start growing.
Water:
Keep the seeds lightly moist until they sprout. Avoid overwatering to prevent rot. Use a spray bottle to water gently, as watering cans may wash the seeds away.
Watch out for frost:
If sowing in autumn or spring, be aware of frost risk. Once crops sprout, protect them with a row cover to shield the young plants from frost.
Do not forget to fertilize:
Once the plants have grown, give them regular nutrients. You can use manure, chicken manure, liquid fertilizer, bokashi fertilizer water, nettle water, or diluted urine ("liquid gold").
Covered cultivation:
Cover plants with organic materials like grass clippings or leaves. This helps retain moisture in the soil and provides structure, nutrients, and food for earthworms and other insects.

Fact: Norway's hardiness zones

Norway is divided into eight hardiness zones (climate zones), with corresponding hardiness numbers H1 to H8. In addition to these, there is the harsh mountain zone, marked in white on the maps. H1 is the mildest parts of the country, while H8 is the toughest climate areas.,When buying seeds or plants, you can look at the label to see which zone the plant thrives best in. If it says hardiness zone H3, the plant can survive in zones H1-H3.

Be aware that the zone map is a rough estimate, your garden may have better or worse hardiness than indicated on the map. You can actually have several different climate zones in the same garden. Near the house wall where it is sheltered, and where the foundation retains some warmth, there are better conditions than out on the open lawn. You can also change your climate zone yourself by, for example, planting a hedge that provides shelter from the wind or placing large rocks near the plants. How moist the soil is in winter also matters a lot. Roots tolerate frost better in well-drained soil than in soil that has a lot of water in it when it freezes.