Do you waste your plot?

[planetologist]

I said: growing edible crops, though the answer might have been several different things: mulching, digging planting holes for a chestnut and a new cherry, sowing cereals, but the latter is all in service of the former.

[stella]

Thanks Zazen if you had not told me where to look I would never have found it.
Now I see what you mean Snadger good plan methinks but how to do it the other way round from winter to spring

[Newbie]

Autumn / Winter in the veg plot is spent doing several different jobs for me. Firstly i use the time to have a good tidy up around the plot: clear away the spent crops, have a good weeding session & empty the compost bins. Secondly, part of the patch is used for overwintering crops which for me are mainly Winter Lettuce, Chard, Leeks & Purple Sprouting Broccoli - all of which were sown in the summer & are good, usable sized plants already. In addition to this i plant onion sets & garlic in modules which i plant into the veg beds in Jan / Feb. The bed set aside for the Alliums is prepared also during Autumn with a good dressing of homemade compost which is lightly forked in. The only empty veg bed out of the four is given a good generous mulch with homemade compost and or manure. Ideally i would have no empty space but as yet, i too don't have the knowledge or technique to keep the patch full all year round. Plus, in the winter it is nice to slow down a bit in the garden & enjoy the chance to relax a bit!

[snakeshack]

I too wil be harvesting through the winter but to a lesser extent,I will have the usual brassicas, leeks, parsnip and swedes but will also be using cloches ,water cooler bottles & small tunnels made out of water pipe and poly sheet to grow salad.
hving said that only about 60% of the ground is currently used this way ,the rest has been dug and manured ready for spring,I tend to interplant winter veg between summer veg sothat when the summer stuff is gone there is my winter harvest waiting in the wings.I always leave several beds fallow wiyh large quantities of manure on so that when my winter veg is harvested I can move the cloches etc onto the manured ground to warm it up in early spring,then the now uncovered beds get dug and limed/manured as required.this is sustainable and keeps the soil in a state of replenishment.
any ground not reqired for more than a month is green manured.

[Bren In Pots]

This is my first year growing in beds rather than just pots, so its all a bit new.
Bed 1 has parsnips, 2 has Kale, 3 Offenham Cabbage, 4 winter lettuce, that leaves me with 1 empty bed that I've covered with netting to keep the neighbours cat off.

[Paulottie]

One Autumn, Ten years ago,the first crop I could plant when I moved back to the country was Senshui onions....I was just so keen to get some veg growing! I still like to have Aqua Dulce Claudia BB's and Alliums in overwinter, maybe to keep my parsnips leeks, PBS, brussels etc company. There is always some fallow land being mulched but successful veg growing requires a rhythm, you never stop harvesting and sowing...even in Jan between bouts of chiselling out frozen leeks I'll be in the greenhouse sowing the next year's supply.

[jackyspratty]

We are working two quarterplots at different sites. Im helping my friend on on (hes not given it up yey!!!)

Plot 1 (shared)
Bed 1 - leeks in situe as needed
bed 2 - parsnips, salsify, scorzonera, winter radish harvest as needed
Bed 3 - globe artichokes, bedded under straw for winter
Bed4 - Small asparagus bed, bedded down for winter
Bed 5 - Few sweded left and kohrabbi
Bed 6 - old spud bed, manured, maybe used for fruit bed.
Small qauter bed of jerusalem artichokes used as needed

I mulch paths, manure and tidy!

Plot 2 (mine all mine)
Ive had this for a year, and am still imrpoving the soil. have 6 beds

Bed 1 has curly Kale and blackcurrants
Bed 2 empty apart from old popcorn stalks
very small bed of celeriac
Every other bed s free and will be cardbarded and mulched as per last year. I still have one to clear as it has broken down blue plastic in it froma previous tenant! Grrrrr!!!

Generally busy, and I have more winter veg in place tha last year, when by this time we had nothing left!

[salilah]

I'm trying to keep growing stuff, but find that my planning is poor - things should have been started much earlier! I have a square-foot bed with some leaves, carrots, some winter veg (and a fair few weeds!) which is awaiting plastic sheeting; another bed with winter leaves (salad, mustard) which should also be covered; I used one bed to plant out strawberry runners as I had nothing else ready; the greenhouse bed is full of just-transplanted leaves of all sorts; I've kale on another bed, and chard on another. I'm also trying out the combination of Morrisons buckets and greenhouse - chard, kale, rocket, endives - and am about to plant out more winter lettuce seedlings from modules into buckets. The bed in the greenhouse will be covered in fleece for extra warmth - first year, so it is an experiment.
and PS the winter growing handbook I like is Eliot Coleman I think, but also yes although they get a lot of cold and snow, so double protection is needed, they are also getting the same light levels and duration as the South of France, so I think we have more of a challenge!
Salilah

[becslb]

I have Kale x2, Chard, carrots, leeks and celeriac still in plus have planted onion and garlic sets, I have fruit bushes, rhubarb and strawberries in fixed beds. The rest of the plot is being rearranged with paths this winter so currently either bare or in need of digging/weeding.

I'm still a beginner at winter growing so will be looking at the posts with interest!

Edited to add: Just seen Pies list of what is in each of his/hers beds - really helpful and inspiring!

[gojiberry]

I am certain that I read somewhere that it is more detrimental to the soil to leave it bare overwinter than to have a crop growing. And yet many books say the ground should be roughly dug so that frosts can break the soil down. Personally I try to keep the plot full of veg all year. At the moment I only have half a bed free and that is awaiting broad beans in Jan.

Ian

[Snadger]

I am certain that I read somewhere that it is more detrimental to the soil to leave it bare overwinter than to have a crop growing. And yet many books say the ground should be roughly dug so that frosts can break the soil down. Personally I try to keep the plot full of veg all year. At the moment I only have half a bed free and that is awaiting broad beans in Jan.

Ian

I think a lot of the old gardening books were based on old farming practices. Strict crop rotation,leaving land fallow,applying artificial fertilisers as a substitute for organic matter.
No wonder they needed the frost to break down the concrete like soil if it was totally devoid of organic matter and worms!

[Sara]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your comments. We'll fit as many as we can into the January issue.

[jacob]

My garden tends to freeze solid from mid-Nov to mid-Feb. The only things I can get to overwinter are garlic and onions (though I'm experimenting with kale and PSB this year). Also got parsnips, jerusalem artichokes and my pathetic leeks in the ground awaiting harvest. Plus whatever carrots, beetroot and rocket I've not yet scoffed.

[weekendwellies]

As I am still clearing chunks of my overgrown plot I will be digging, mulching and covering with weed suppressant fabric. I have just taken delivery of some shrubs from an online company, so I will be putting them in this week. Honeysuckle, Budleia, Forsythia, Ribes and Mock Orange, fragrance, berries and flowers for the insects as well as my enjoyment. Onions and garlic will be going in soon, and brassicas too.

[buzzingtalk]

I certainly wouldnt waste it if I had a plot.

Even in my pot garden, I found an aching hole when I chopped down the chillies and tomatos, so bought 6 blueberry bushes in and planted some pot garlic to keep me interested over winter. Next year I've no idea how it will all fit but at least I don't feel I'm 'wasting pots'