Planting Overwintering Vegetables to Protect Crops

[wrenloren]

Excuse me, sir! I'm really looking forward to next year's crop because I've grown so passionate about gardening this year, even though I'm new to it (in Vancouver, BC)!


I'm planning to cultivate sprouting broccoli, garlic, onions, kale, and cover crops this winter. I'm also interested in growing winter vegetables. To put it simply, I don't understand how to make everything fit together.

Do I need to separate the beds into sections for the cover crops and the winter veggies, or can I plant both at the same time? There doesn't seem to be any clear information online that I can use to answer my questions. Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide! Thank you!

[Snoop Puss]

Hello and welcome, wrenloren.

It looks as if there's another thread posted by someone in the your area asking pretty well the same question. Have a look here: https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ing-vegetables

Is this you? If so, please send a pm to me or to the other mod, Nicos.

If not, you may find the answers to that thread of interest.

Your question is very broad and would require a book to answer. Do you have any gardening books for beginners? When I started growing, I found Joy Larkham's Grow Your Own Vegetables very useful, as it contains lots of information about individual vegetables but also a large section on how to organise your plot. But there are lots of other books and you may find books by authors more local to you that have covered your particular environment and climate. Ask in your nearest library for information. Otherwise have a look at this thread for suggestions: https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ardening-books

Grow Your Own magazine also offers growing guides to fruit and veg free to download that you might find useful, though these will not answer your question of organising your plot:
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/guides/fruit
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/guides/vegetables

[ameno]

Cover crops are generally for vacant spaces; soil which would otherwise lie bare over winter. So you wouldn't normally try and grow winter veg and cover crops in the same bed. The cover crops are also likely to compete with the winter veg and give you a smaller crop if you plant them in the same bed.

Some winter crops need to be in from the early summer and will stay in the same place the whole time, like kale, leeks, and brussels sprouts.
Other winter crops are not planted until late summer, such as onions and garlic (and then are not ready until June or so the following year), and so can be planted after some other early crop comes out.
Sprouting broccoli can kind of fit into either category, depending on how you grow it. The older varieties need more growing time, and so need to go in early. The more modern varieties can be started in pots and then planted out in mid July or so to follow an early crop (like onions or garlic) and still produce from January onwards.

Cover crops are then for beds which would otherwise be vacant over the winter.