Thinking ahead - wat do you grow in Autumn/Winter

[squashysu]

Hi everyone

I am thinking about growing over the Autum/Winter time and would like to know what to grow and what grows well at these times.

Any ideas for both in the ground and in the greenhouse please.

Thanks

SS

[peanut]

You have to have Purple Sprouting Broccoli, plant now to eat Feb/Mar onwards......delicious and soooo expensive in the shops!

[murray]

Garlic, onions some winter cabbage, planted in summer

[rustylady]

Most winter crops for the lottie are planted in summer and harvested in winter. Good ones are leeks, purple sprouting broccoli (PSB), winter cabbage, brussel sprouts - carrots and beetroot can be left in the ground and pulled when needed. Not much stuff actively grows in winter, but it's good to be able to harvest as and when you need stuff. My greenhouse isn't heated, so is just used for frost protection for fuchsias, pelargoniums etc during winter, and for seed raising in spring.

[Snadger]

Don't forget one of the most underated vegetables.........kale. There are loads of different varieties including Tuscan, red Russian, curley kale etc
PSB is another deffo and Spring cabbages! Parsnips, leeks,japanese onions,January King type cabbages,shallots,swedes,cardoon,all year round caulis.

Theoretically, for the greenhouse you can plant ANYTHING that will grow outdoors during the winter and you should get earlier cleaner crops under glass!

[lottie dolly]

Am i correct in saying,some people have had carrotts in the ground all winter,from a late sowing,and i still have spring onions from last year,they are great,i believe there are a type of lettuce you can grow under a clotch or green house,
Has anyone tried growing lettuce and radish inside,in those flower buckets,would make a change from the usual house plants.

[piskieinboots]

I planted Spring cabbage last September (late) they are still going strong and I have been self-sufficient in SCs for many months now.

I don't, however, wait for them to 'heart', I cut leaves off as I go - just enough for a meal, thus leaving the plant to grown on

[Wren]

I have kale planned for this winter and seed went into modules last week. I have leeks in pots ready to plant onto the plot when i get summer crops out the way. I have sprout seedlings, PS broccoli, and winter king cabbage to get going some time soon.

That should keep me busy for next winter.
I am still harvesting this years spring cabbage an ws broccoli, but i will need their space for the swede an turnips soon so what don't get eaten by then will get given away, or into the freezer it goes.

Wren

[carlseawolf]

I'm sowing from june onwards for winter crops ;

swede ,
turnip ,
january king cabbage ,
spring cabbage ,
chinese cabbage ,
japanese onion ,
mooli ,
scorenza ,
garlic ,
carrots,
leeks ,

I know some of these are outside there recommended sowing times but i wanted to try some for flavour and it seamed the best time to grow them when beds are empty anyway.

[HeyWayne]

The only thing I seemed to grow over winter was impatient.

[Nicos]

Spinach lasts well if protected from the frosts!!

Also lambs lettuce continues growing into late autumn and again in early spring- and it's lovely when picked small!

[Cutecumber]

The only thing that benefitted from being in the greenhouse this winter were some Valdor lettuce - the other lettuces got mould. Greenhouses in winter can be damp and unpleasant, causing problems for some veggies. The real winners were all outside, despite us having a very cold winter this year. They were all unprotected.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli - sow now, plant August. Harvest depends on the variety, but from December to May. Really hardy.

Kale - really hardy and wonderful for late winter, early spring. Sow May/ June - harvest as you wish, by the leaf or the whole plant.

Leaf beet - so much more productive than true spinach, and more palatable to me personally. Sat quietly over the winter and started putting on weight during March - we've been eating it for a good few weeks now and there's more to come.

Garlic - planted November, survived the cold but won't do much until July.

Broad beans - didn't make it. Killed by the cold.
Spring cabbages - didn't make it. The foxes sat on them

I'd love to have big winter cabbages and spring cauliflowers but there's not enough room.

I tried some late carrots and beetroot in the greenhouse - sowed end of August - but they didn't come to much. In a warm autumn amd mild winter you might be lucky.

So, there are loads of options - just get going now.

[squashysu]

great thanks,
one question though, if i sow now, do i sow in the greenhouse in pots and then plant out when my plot is empty of the stuff in there now, ie: august/sept?? i would of course protect with fleece when out, cutecumber thanks you have added sow and harvest times for me as well

cheers everyone

SS