Autumn Sowing

[Alison]

I've not found it much of a benefit over wintering broad beans or peas as they need quite a bit of attention in the worst of the weather (usually winds) and you only seem to get crops a week or so earlier. However, I find that growing winter salads under cover (either under cloches or in old grow bags in the green house) as there is nothing better than a bit of fresh salad in my lunch box in the middle of winter.

[GeorgieP]

I've never autumn sown before. Was going to try onions and garlic...

[Stacey Steve]

A great time to plant garlic. To get really good bulbs, they benefit from being exposed to frost. All mine always split into corms and are ready to pull end of June, early July dependant upon the weather. You do however need to ensure you water them in the spring if you get hot days and several days between significant rain or they will bolt.

[zazen999]

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

...goes off to pm Ben...

It's on another thread...for some reason this was posted about 6 times in different places.

Needs merging together to be honest, or it will get very confusing.

[Pumpkin Becki]

It's on another thread...for some reason this was posted about 6 times in different places.

Needs merging together to be honest, or it will get very confusing.

It doesn't take much to confuse me!! Lets hope Ben will sort it out on Monday for us.

[Winged one]

This autumn, I will be sowing garlic and japanese onions for overwintering. I will also be sowing some broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia) as these gave a great early crop, and peas (Meteor) as these gave a lovely taste of summer in May - well ahead of my spring sown peas. I'll also try some more overwintering salads this year, although I need to do more research on varieties yet - possibly land cress and lettuce "all year round" (I think that's a lettuce too and not just a cauliflower?).

I hate having the plot completely empty over the winter (and I also have plenty of leeks and brassicas in since earlier in the summer), but as I don't have a polytunnel or greenhouse, I am a bit limited in what I can put there (it is quite an exposed site for wind). I'll also leave one half of the ground to rest over winter too though - probably just covered with builder's plastic, although I'd put some farmyard or stable manure there if I got hold of it too.

[chuffa]

Solent wight garlic planted 2" deep and 4" apart in rows 12" apart. Don't plant in freshly manured ground, you will get more top than bulb. Give a nitrogen boost in spring.

[Sue]

Hi
Keep a good supply of seedlings growing into young plants so that there's always something to plant out as soon as you harvest and there's a space. That way too you have crops like spinach and cabbages growing at different rates and not everything is ready to eat at the same time.
Sue

[Winged one]

I posted on another version of this thread yesterday but its gotten lost!!

I am going to be planting garlic and japanese onions for overwintering. The garlic does better with some cold, and the onions are ready nice and early, just when the winter stores are finishing up.

I will also be sowing some broad beans (aquadulce claudia) and peas (meteor) for some earlier than normal harvests next April/May - a lovely fresh taste so early in the season.

Along with some salad leaves (I think the lettuce variuety was "all year round" - that's not just a cauliflower variety is it?), and some land cress and corn salad. I hope the perpetual spinach will keep going as well for other greens.

Previously sown and planted are plenty of brassicas (brussels sprouts, purple sprouting brocolli, kale and cabbage - cauliflower doesn't do very well on our site) and a large bed of leeks (planted where I dug up the early spuds).

I much prefer to see the ground in use as much as possible but I also intend covering half the plot (with builder's plastic) to let it rest - if I can get hold of some farmyard or stable manure, I'll put that over it too. And I am also somewhat restricted in what I can grow through the winter as our plot is very exposed to wind, and I don't have any greenhouse/polytunnel available.

[Sara]

Thanks for the great tips everyone

All of the autumn sowing threads have now been merged together to make posting suggestions a bit less confusing.

[gojiberry]

I usually plant Lapanese onion sets but have never had a lot of sucess with them. Last years 50 sets gave me about 12 decent sized onions and the rest hardly put any growth on at all. So this year I am trying seed sown overwintering onions. The seed has already been sown and has just germinated. I will keep them in individual pots for the time being and plant them out in Sept/Oct. The variety is called Hi-Keeper which produces onions of about 4oz in weight and is supposed to withstand the onslaught of winter. Haven't grown them before so will have to see how it works out.

Ian

[Banana]

Silly question, but where do you get a hold of Onion and Garlic sets during the autmun? Do they suddenly reappear in the Garden Centres or does every save them from the spring?

[SueA]

I'm planting some potatoes 'Carlingford' in August so they don't really count as Autumn sown I suppose but I have sent for some Elephant garlic to try as I've never grown it before & it's supposed to be milder than normal garlic as it's actually related to leeks.
Banana - you usually have to send off for garlic from mail order companies but you do sometimes see packs of onion sets etc. for autumn planting in garden centres.

[broadway]

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.

Hi PB,

I purchased the chard and spinach you mentioned however the instructions about sowing outside states to July, can I sow them later? Thanks in advance for any info.

Regards
Danny

[sarahspatch]

Yes you can still sow chard and spinach, I'm planning on sowing some chard in the next few days. I think it will be better to sow spinach when the weather has cooled down a bit - it bolts readily in the summer heat!

I'm also planning to plant overwintering onion sets, garlic, and winter radish, or Mooli in October.