How quickly planting season comes around. We’re still harvesting last years parsnips but already it’s time to start thinking about what we’re going to grow through 2010.

Obviously the chance of a hard frost still hasn’t passed, so it’s too early to be planting seeds and seedlings out in the plot, but we can give things a head start on the kitchen windowsill and, with the help of the heater, in the greenhouse.

Fortunately the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has produced this handy PDF calendar telling you when to sow seeds indoors, when to transplant the seedlings into the garden and when to expect your first harvest.

It’s very comprehensive, covering artichoke (globe and Jerusalem), turnip and everything in between, including more unusual crops like kohl rabi and celeriac. It’s just a shame that it looks so awful when the RHS website, and the books it produces are so beautiful. That photo at the top of the post is a corner of the guide (ugh), and this is the much more attractive website:

Royal Horticultural Society vegetable-growing pages

Still, you know what they say about gift horses and their mouths, and this is a free guide that saves you reading the back of countless seed packets to plant your sowing session, so ignore its appearance and revel in its usefulness.

Download it, save it and use it year after year. It’s specific to the UK climate, so no good for the southern hemisphere unless you offset the months by six or so, and it’s certainly going to guide my veg growing this year.

Related posts:

1. How soon should you start planting your veg?
2. The cheat’s way to grow your own
3. Planning this year's planting