Autumn Sowing

[Sara]

Grow Your Own needs your tips!

We'd love to hear what everyone's planning to sow this October.

Let us know any autumnal advice you'd like to share with other readers and then keep an eye on the mag – you might end up in print!

[milly2306]

hi
i am going to try garlic, onions, broad beans, cauliflower and spinach. my first autumn sowing so any advice gratefully received
xxxmillyxxx

[jackie j]

Like last year as it was my first time growing lots of veg I will plant my overwintering onion sets and broadbeans not sure what else yet they both did very well.

[Garden_girlie21]

The 10th of October is apparently the best time of year to sow sweet peas. My grandfather learned this from an accomplished sweet pea exhibitor at the new Forest Show. he now has the best sweet peas I've seen.

Pretty useful is you want to use them to attract pollenators!

Jennifer

[Pumpkin Becki]

At the very least I'll be sewing Rainbow Chard and Perpetual Spinach to overwinter as they cropped all winter/spring and didn't bolt until May. I'll also put in a first sewing of Broad Beans to give me an early crop in the spring, and overwintering onion sets which were far more successful than my spring sewn ones.

[joey]

Yapanese Onions

[Pumpkin Becki]

That's odd, where did mine and Jackie J's replys go? Mods - have we been censored?

...goes off to pm Ben...

[bridget mc laughlin]

I'm planting japanese onions with lots of dung and some spring cabbage

[JOHN BISHOP]

Autumn Sowings

You must sow Broad Beans (Aquadulce) Pea (Feltham First) under a cloche on or about Bonfire Night!! also onion sets.
Oh dont forget to keep digging little and often, and paint the shed
And plan for next year, and store the apples,spuds,onions,shallots,pumpkins,
squash, and anything else that I may have forgotten,and inbetween eat your veg ,and enjoy.
Have a happy time on your allotment.

[New_Bud]

its not really sowing, but it is possible to grow mushrooms in loo roll tubes from october..? Toilet roll oyster mushrooms theyre called.
Don't know lots about it, but I read in "Window-box allotment" that you can do this?

[chuffa]

I normaly plant my garlic (solent wight) in October. They are great for Autumn planting and produce good sized bulbs. They go in 2" deep and 6" apart with 12" between rows.

[Mrs Dobby]

We're planning on planting a few overwintering crops this year, the idea being to maximise our cropping potential by getting another crop growing as soon as possible after
this years crops are harvested! The planting plans are almost complete for next year, and we've already bought most of the seeds for next year (apart from seed spuds and onion sets + another types of garlic to go along with the 2 types we grew this year that will have the best bulbs replanted next year!) Once our current crops are out, then we'll be manuring the beds that need it, planting up the beds that we want for overwintering crops, and covering the rest to prevent the soil leaching - and to keep the weeds down!

We'll be planting 2 types (possibly 3 types) of overwintering Garlic, approx 50 cloves of each, along with 2 types of overwintering onion sets, probably about 100 sets of each.

We're also planning on planting out 2 types of overwintering broad bean and 1 type of overwintering pea, these will be protected where necessary with cloches.

Along with that there will also be some more spring cabbages to plant out (the first batch are due to go out next month, with a second batch in September and a final batch in October), these will be netted for protection against rabbits and pidgeons!

Other than that, ther will be some salad crops planted into the greenhouse borders, some overwintering spring onions and pak choi and chinese cabbage planted out aswell.

[Two_Sheds]

I'll be sowing Super Aquedulce Claudia broad beans at the end of October, in modules so the slugs don't finish them off.
When they're a few inches tall I will plant them out on the allotment, with support against winter gales. You don't want them to be too tall over the winter, or the weather will just destroy them. They need to have a good root system though, and then they'll romp away in the spring and give you a slightly earlier crop than your spring-sown varieties.

* I am drying my own seed right now, ready for sowing.

[Two_Sheds]

I'll also be sowing Onion Senshyu, a popular over-wintering Japanese variety. Sow 50-60 plants per m² into a good, fertile, well draining soil. Sow even closer if you like baby onions.

[Two_Sheds]

Oh, and of course Keepwell onion, also an over-wintering Japanese onion. It has brown/yellow skin and white flesh. Slightly flattened bulbs. As the name suggests, these store well for 4-5 months after the summer harvest.
Mine did really well ~ they are sitting in the sun (!) drying off right now.