Growing Winter veg - is it worthwhile?

[burnie]

I am not self sufficient in veg, nor am I trying to be, a like to eat stuff fresh in season when I can, the rest I get from the farmers markets. I am getting better at raised bed gardening, but I believe it does them good to have a fallow period in the winter, I have the last 3 cabbages to eat, then all 3 will be empty until March.

[veggiechicken]

So the questions are: what do you eat that is expensive to buy? And what do you grow that's better straight after being harvested rather than after being in transit for a few days?

To me there's an extra dimension - everything tastes better when its picked fresh from your garden/plot BUT only if its worth eating. Pulling up a manky, worm riddled parsnip from the garden is such a letdown after waiting maybe 10 months for it to grow. I'm still getting over the beautiful cabbage that, when cut in half, had a massive slug living inside it.
So the Tick list maybe -

Expensive to buy
Better eaten fresh
Reliable cropper - not prone to pests
Quick to mature?

[burnie]

I also grow something new every year that I've not grown before, better still if it's not in the supermarkets, my Dad started this back in the 1960's/70's and I carry it on. Last year it was Jalapeno's this year I have some Hot Wax chillies a generous gift from one of our fellow grapes. Also thinking of trying some Mooli.

[Penellype]

Ok, I'll put the cat amomg the pigeons!

The mark of a good vegetable gardener (in my opinion) is having something growing on all areas of his plot 52 weeks of the year.

Which makes me about a 60% gardener, but I'm working on it for next year!

My veg garden is currently covered in buckets of winter veg that have been moved onto the soil after the peas and onions were harvested (but were mostly planted earlier) - does that count?

[Penellype]

So the questions are: what do you eat that is expensive to buy? And what do you grow that's better straight after being harvested rather than after being in transit for a few days?

I don't really know what the prices of various veg are as I don't buy them, but I do remember noticing last summer that courgettes seemed to be about £2 each when I was picking them every day.

As for taste... lettuce, tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, peas, beans, strawberries, carrots, calabrese, turnips, spinach, onions and apples that I grow definitely taste better than those I've eaten that have been bought (eg when eating out).
I've never bought kale, mizuna, namenia, pak choi, choy sum, kohlrabi, beetroot or sprouting broccoli so I don't know about those.
From the varieties I've grown I'm not sure there is a huge difference for cabbage, swede, parsnips, fennel, leeks, blueberries or herbs, but it is a long time since I bought any so I could be mistaken, or maybe the varieties I have grown are just fairly ordinary.

[Chippy Minton]

After Brexit when Brussels are re named and a £ each, we will not only be growing them, but mounting armed guards on them too.................................(I prefer the taste and smug self satisfaction of growing my own lol)

Freedom sprouts..........

[Newt]

OK, I think we're all agreed that its good to grow things over winter, even if its just for the pleasure of being outdoors.
However, does it make sense to grow the veggies that are in the ground for a long time and, maybe, are a bit difficult to get right, or should our efforts go into growing veg that are relatively easy.
Do we try to grow sprouts, parsnip and swede for Christmas because its traditional to eat them then or should we put our time and effort into growing other veg that may have a better success rate?
For example, I could have overwintering broad beans and peas in the ground that is full of puny swede and sproutless sprouts.

I'll never grow a parsnip, because neither me nor the Mister are that fond of them, and it's not worth the effort to grow something we won't eat. But I love sprouts, kale sprouts, and brassicas in general, and as I understand it the tops of brussels sprout plants are edible too, so I'll want to prioritise space for those.

Even if I wind up struggling to get a good crop, I reckon I'll still want to put my effort into onions, garlic, brassicas, squash and beans, because the pleasure we'll get from them will be well worth it. I know salad is meant to be a fairly easy thing to grow, but I'll probably only ever plant it to fill space in plots in between things I have more interest in.

[Snadger]

I am not self sufficient in veg, nor am I trying to be, a like to eat stuff fresh in season when I can, the rest I get from the farmers markets. I am getting better at raised bed gardening, but I believe it does them good to have a fallow period in the winter, I have the last 3 cabbages to eat, then all 3 will be empty until March.

Fallow period in winter? Bah humbug!

[Snoop Puss]

Quick to mature?

What do you regard as quick? Anyone got any views on quick maturing overwintering veg? I'd be glad to know too.

Maybe spinach, carrots, late fennel?

[veggiechicken]

Quick? - 6 months or less maybe?

[rary]

I agree that you can shop around and find cheap veg, but as bikermike has said how often have they been sprayed with chemicals,someone once told me that Apple's get sprayed 14 times from bud to storing and the chemicals can't be washed out, also the farmers grow for cash therefore what they add to their soil is for growth, not for mineral or nutrient content, I read somewhere that the mineral content of our veg. is down 68% from the fifties, and personally I think this had contributed to health problems of today, and also having worked in a chemical factory I know the poisons that go into making vitamins, I am not saying the manufactured vitamins are bad for you, but people have to work with the poisons to make them.
I will get off my soap box now, and I suppose I could use the soap to make a spray

[Jimmy]

Weeds aren't included

Dam, they are the one thing I am really good at!
Jimmy

[Penellype]

What do you regard as quick? Anyone got any views on quick maturing overwintering veg? I'd be glad to know too.

Maybe spinach, carrots, late fennel?

Probably the best are oriental greens. If you sow these in August or September they grow fast at first then slower through the winter and you can harvest them right through to spring (except when frozen solid) - they usually start to bolt in March but you can eat the new shoots.

The mizuna and namenia in the planter on the right of this photo were sown at the beginning of August and planted into the planter mid August. Baby leaves were ready in September and plenty in October. This photo was taken on 1st November - they need netting earlier in the year.



I have some mizuna that was sown in October, and these are still really quite small, so it pays to get them in and growing a bit earlier:



The spinach in the growhouse in the first photo was sown in mid August, but really won't be ready to harvest properly until probably March. August sowings of spinach are very variable - if it gets too hot it will bolt even when very small. Bucket 2 contains corn salad sown at the end of August. A few leaves can be picked in late autumn, and it continues to grow slowly through the winter, but the main harvest comes around March when it suddenly starts to grow and produce flowering shoots.

This year I have also sown turnips towards the end of August - the biggest is now about golf ball size and I will harvest these as baby turnips soon.

My late (September sown) fennel is still very small. I'd be surprised if you could do much with carrots - my experience of sowing carrots in July was that by the following June a small number of them were thick enough to consider a tiny carrot rather than a thin tap root!

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

I love growing winter veg! and although the plot does look a little sparse once the summer and autumn crops have been harvested, there's nothing better than nipping down there on Christmas eve, digging out a few parsnips and carrots (Well little stubby things in my case) and a bowl full of sprouts for the big day dinner, all home grown n far supersede the quality you would buy from any supermarket!

and as I understand it the tops of brussel sprout plants are edible too, so I'll want to prioritise space for those.

And understand it you should Newt!

These were a few I picked thinking last year! But may have been the year before? not been a good few years for me unfortunately!



Tell ya what!

Them sprout tops are a "Delicacy"

[Baldy]

What do the tops taste like?



.... Sprouts?