over wintering

[Pumpkin Becki]

Sew them direct Ollie, they come up really quickly.

[OllieMartin]

Thanks x x

[Reks]

hey what about the winter variety of cabbage and cauliflowers, those would grow in winter? I bought them especially thinking I'll have something to look after in winter too. Also I have some winter mooli. Gosh we are already talking about winter........

[Two_Sheds]

Gosh we are already talking about winter........

well, there's only about 9 weeks of (potentially) good weather left ...

[bramble]

Hi Ollie, don't forget you can put in onions and garlic in late autumn as well.

[OllieMartin]

^Please post plan on here somewhere PoshCloche, sounds very interesting. And your overwintering advice is very useful, given me some good ideas.

Thanks

[Reks]

Hello Reks, here are some ideas for sowing under cloches.
Carrots
You could sow some carrot seeds as late as august / september depending on your local climate. Cover with cloches sept / october time and keep covered untill the crop is finished. Some varieties that would be good for this are the Nantes type such as 'Ideal' and 'Resistafly'. Carrot F1 Primo can be sown Oct, Dec and late winter onwards for sucessional harvesting May onwards, this will give you a super early crop of carrots for next year.
Onions
You could also sow onion seeds (as opposed to sets) in August to overwinter which you can then transplant to form large bulbs during the next summer. These seeds do not need to be widely spaced as you will be digging them up and planting out the following spring to their final growing position. A good use of space and cheaper than buying sets. Some varieties to consider for this are the Japanese overwintering types such as Senshyu.
Then of course you can sow and grow lettuce overwinter. Lots of other bits as well.
I am currently writing up a month by month growing plan with suggested seed types to grow overwinter and extend the growing season. Northern veg growers struggle to get crops to overwinter and cloche protection really helps here as well. Will post or pm you the link to the plan when I have published it.
Best wishes
PoshCloche

Thanks for the respose PoshCloche. I can make some plans now. Looking forward to your writeup, please do send across the link.
Another basic question regarding onions is other that the cost factor what is the advantage of growing onions from sets vs seeds? same for shallots and garlic.

[Reks]

You are welcome Reks.
Advantages of sets is that they are already 'mini' onions so stand a good chance of growing on - germination of seed is not always as sure though sets are also prone to being pulled up by pigeons and eaten by mice..grrr. Also most sets are heat treated which I understand reduces the risk of them going to seed (bolting). Saying that loads of my sets bolted this year, though it has been hot. For me, I guess the real advantage to sets is that they are easier to handle. You plant them in their growing position and thats that. Seeds often need thining out and transplanting.
Have planted shallot seeds for the first time this year so dont know how well they are going to go. The shallot seed I planted will grow one shallot per seed whereas the sets I have planted in the past grow a crown of shallots from one set planted. I didnt buy sets last year as they seemed to have got really expensive.
Not sure about garlic.

Thanks PoshCloche - I planted some shallot and onion sets end of may, and ma wondering when these be ready. Also I have to start looking for sets or seeds to plant in late autumn so I can harvest them in spring.

[CimaDirapa]

autumn onion sets

Tuckers Seeds do Autumn planting sets for 1.80/400 gram
I ordered a total 800 grams of Radar and Red Electric sets for less than £6 (this includes p+p).

[Reks]

This is so cheap!!!!