From planting seeds to getting edible crops from cucumbers lettuce and carrots?

Ooooh I have just the thing! Right, before we put our seeds into the soil, we give them a fighting chance by getting the seedlings going in trays or pots. The exception is carrots, the seeds are VERY small. For these, we dig in some sand into the bed or pot they're going in, and then get this soil to the very finest we can. This means the carrots won't struggle to grow downwards.

One big tip though are these (http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=9093&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=Supplies%20Gifts%20AS&SearchText=p16.v222;p10.v77&OfferCode=T1H).
They're brilliant! Especially for the cucumbers. Soak the jiffy in water until it expands, then drain for a couple of seconds. Then pop your seed in and that's it. You can put the jiffy into the soil once the seedling is up, and not disturb the roots. The other thing is to get a propogator (http://fothergills.co.uk/en/windowsill-propagator-6031.aspx), which really gives tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers a good chance. Seed packets tend to be very informative about how to grow.
Lettuces and salady stuff like rocket do very well straight in a grow bag, and if you get the 'cut and come again' varieties then you'll have a long crop.

I've already done that part, they are out in the garden as we speak. I just wondered how long from shooting to getting an edible source from them :hihi:

wow - your cucumbers are outside already ? have you given them any protection - they are quite tender and will be damaged if it gets too cold. Mine were only sown a couple of weeks ago and will stay inside until probably end May (if they survive the mouse attack).

I sowed my carrots at the w/e, under glass - expect it will be July before I start cropping them.

They survived the frost! Hardy are these ;) I'm a first timer so I', learning slowly

cucumbers about 12- 14 weeks
lettuce - depends what type my mixed salad leaves took about 6 weeks
carrotts - varies greatly mine have been in 3 weeks and have only just broke the surface, next door planted hers last week and they are already coming through i have been told its about 3 - 4 months