The Plants
Knowing nothing but being an information junkie (brain like a sponge... in a good way). I've picked a few things up from all these seed packets about growing things. It'll be interesting to see how these things hold up but heres a few common things that seem to be on almost every packet. Some are so obvious that you really should take time out to have a good think about it if they don't seem it... my fave so far for example is:
Transplant when large enough to handle.
As opposed to what, waiting until they've grow good strong roots in the seed bed or trying to move them when you can barely see them, are there really any plants that should be moved when their barely touchable?
Water well during dry periods... as opposed to what leaving them to die?
Unless otherwise specified it seems the following are good rules to follow for most veg.
sow thinly in a finely raked seedbed at a depth of 13mm (half an inch) or sow directly at the same depth.
Cover lightly with soil.
Use good quality compost*
Manure is a good idea but you shouldn't fertilise/manure in the same year as you apply lime if you need to raise your PH. do the liming and manure spreading on alternate years, and some leave for a year in between too.
- although I've been told that using soil that's too rich for sowing seed can cause plants to bolt as they get too much nutrient). You can get pretty good organic compost at decent prices now, and make your own. We live in one of the colder parts of England (Cumbria) so it takes ages to get good compost, so we're looking at getting a wormery instead and I've heard good things about these compost bins that you just turn once a day (they spin). But I still prefer the wormery idea, let them do the work.
Lime: raising your PH
It seems that lime takes up to 6 months to work on the soil (unless you use quick lime/hydrated lime) which is a bad idea if you're growing veg in that soil already. And don't apply too much at once or you can shock you soil.
Quick lime is a short cut that I really don't like the sound of personally. It's nasty on human skin, can burn your veg's roots. I'd rather wait the 6 months and risk growing veg in acid conditions in the meantime if I must.
My soil is currently really acid so cabbage and brassicas are no go for me but I'm going to sow a few seeds in plugs and plant out and see what happens for purely scientific purposes. That's one thing you'll get to know about me. I'm a control freak, or rather a control group freak. I like to have results to compare to otherwise how do you know whether that received wisdom is so wise ;)