Meet the Three Amigos of the veggie patch

As the weather warms up, now is a great time to start sowing seeds in your garden - especially in the veggie patch. And there are three favourites I always plant as spring arrives: corn, beans, and squash - affectionately known as the “three amigos.”

First up is sweet corn - a gorgeous plant that grows tall, reaching around two metres. It’s best planted in blocks rather than rows to ensure good pollination.

To make the most of your garden space, our second amigo, climbing beans, can be planted alongside the corn. This purple variety adds a lovely pop of colour to the garden.

Here’s how to do it:

• Plant your corn first.

• Once it starts to germinate and grow, sow the climbing beans nearby.

• The beans will then naturally climb up the corn stalks.

Underneath it all, you can interplant with squash, which provides ground cover and helps keep the soil cool and moist around the roots of the corn and beans.

This trio works beautifully together:

• The tall corn provides support,

• The beans fix nitrogen and climb the corn,

• The squash shades the soil and suppresses weeds.

Direct Sowing vs Transplants

When it comes to spring planting, you have two options: grow from seed or use seedlings/transplants.

Direct sowing is ideal for a number of crops now that we’re into spring. Here are a few top choices:

Carrots can be sown almost year-round, but they require light, loose, and friable soil. If your soil is heavy or gravelly, work it into a fine tilth - otherwise, you’ll end up with twisted or stunted carrots.

Here’s a handy tip:

Mix your carrot seed with sand before sowing. This helps you distribute the tiny seeds more evenly along your garden row. You’ll still need to thin them as they grow - but more on that in a few weeks.

Pumpkins are another great choice for direct sowing. This Jap pumpkin is a vigorous grower that needs space. You can train it vertically by planting in front of a pallet or fence and letting it climb - this keeps the fruit off the ground and saves space.

For a more compact option, try the Golden Nugget pumpkin - a bush variety that produces beautiful fruit right through spring and summer.

Zucchini, another member of the cucurbit family, is also ideal for spring sowing. Just be aware that cucurbits (including pumpkins, zucchini, and squash) are prone to powdery mildew.

A simple way to prevent this?

Spray the foliage with a milk solution - one part milk to nine parts water. Apply it as a preventative, and be sure to reapply after rain.

Beetroot is another spring winner. Soak the seeds overnight in a seaweed solution before sowing - this helps with germination. Since each seed produces multiple shoots, you’ll need to thin them as they grow.

When to Use Seedlings or Transplants

Some crops - especially those with fine seeds - are better off started as seedlings.

Onions are a perfect example - you can grab a punnet full of young onion plants, separate them, and plant them directly into your veggie rows.

Leeks offer even better value. You’ll often find 40 to 50 seedlings in a single punnet. Once separated and planted out in trenches, they’ll keep your kitchen stocked for months.

Get Sowing!

So whether you’re direct sowing large seeds or planting transplants for quicker results, now’s the perfect time to get your veggie patch growing.

Get outside, get your fingers dirty, and enjoy the rewards of a productive spring garden.