How
many of these cabbages could you eat in a month?
One cabbage a month. That’s more than enough for anyone when
they are growing their own.
One large plant can provide enough greenery for
about five meals, and like kale we sometimes grow a bit too much of it. It’s
good news for the compost bins though.
Growing your own veggies is always a fine balance between
feeding yourself and family or the compost bin so the longer we can stretch the
season, the less likely we are to get fed up of one type of vegetable. How many
times have you looked in the cookery books to find yet another way of cooking
up your courgettes? A lot I’ll bet. With the help of a bit of cover, and
carefully selected varieties of seeds, it is possible to grow vegetables and
herbs all year round in our climate, and there are advantages to doing this
too.
Advantages to growing
vegetables in winter:
Mature overwintered veg keeps growing until December under
cover, stands for the winter then comes on quickly in February. They can be
picked for much of the winter. There might be lean pickings in January but
there is usually something – perhaps a bit of kale, land cress, claytonia,
lamb's lettuce, herbs and carrots.
Later autumn sowings will overwinter as seedlings that get
going quickly again in February and are ready long before spring sowings. This
eliminates the 'hungry gap' – that period of time when seeds have been sown in
spring but little is ready to eat.
Vitamins and minerals are harder to obtain in winter,
especially vitamin C. Having something fresh from the garden can make a big
difference.
Fresh organic produce is more expensive in winter. Therefore
winter veg saves you more money than summer veg. Rocket, radishes, salad
leaves, parsley and mint are all expensive in winter yet easy to grow at home
and the ground is as well growing something
as sitting there empty.
What to grow in
winter
Loads of vegetables can be overwintered. Perpetual spinach,
chard, parsley, rocket, lettuce , radish, Land cress and lamb's lettuce, Pak
choi, leeks, broccoli and greens can be juiced,
used in salads or frozen
Winter planting
Winter lettuce
Cut-and-come again varieties, such as Niche Mixed, can be
sown until very late in the season. Plant under a fleece.
Broad beans
Planting these beans stops nutrients leaching through
otherwise fallow soil, which allows its structure to deteriorate.
They are ready a good month earlier than those sown in
April, and they don't get black fly. If the beans are in an exposed position
and grow too tall (above a foot ) over winter, they can wave around and split
just above ground level, so put in canes or sticks and string if necessary.
If you pick out some tops to cook before the pods are formed
you will delay pod production, which can help stagger your crop. Small pods are
delicious cooked and eaten whole.
Asparagus
Asparagus varieties are now available for autumn planting,
which helps them establish that bit quicker. You do wait for two years before
you can cut them, but it is a small price to pay for a gourmet extravaganza.
Peas and pea shoots
For a late spring crop, it's worth trying sowing seeds now.
If you sow direct into the ground, plant them one inch deep and relatively
closely at about one inch apart, to make up for a higher loss rate.
With peas, don't forget the pea shoots are tasty: just pick
off the tips and add to stir fries and salads for that intense, delicious fresh
pea flavour.
Sugarsnap peas
Although not usually known for sowing now, their slow growth
over winter helps to produce a crop of smallish, edible pods earlier next year.
Garlic
This is the easiest crop to grow. Plant the cloves
individually to a depth of 2.5in deep on light soils and a lot less deep on
heavy soils, but always a minimum of one inch below the surface.
Onions, spring onions
and shallots
There are quite a few varieties of onions from sets that can
go in now. This is the easiest way to grow onions, and they can be harvested
earlier on in the year.
Many garden centres have shallots available for planting
now.
Lambs lettuce
This is good filler: it's undemanding, easy to grow and
useful for bulking out the salad bowl.
It is useful in that it does not need high light levels and
tolerates low temperatures, and so can be sown up until the end of October
outside; it can be picked until December or into the New Year with some fleece
or milder weather.
Spinach
Pick it young and just wilt the leaves rather than ruin it
with overcooking. It’s great in salads, too.
Spring cabbage
Young plants can be bought now.
Plant 12in apart each way and earth up the soil around their
stems after they have got going to help them against the cold. If it gets icy
in colder areas, fleece or cloches can help. Remember though, there’s no need
to plants too many unless you are thinking of giving them away to passers-by.
