Well, we’re glad you asked because there is plenty to grow over the winter and we want more and more people to get out there and enjoy growing their own from now until next spring!
First on the menu are brassicas. These veg do really well over the winter – broccoli, kales, cabbages and turnips (yes, that’s a brassica too) are all good growers so make sure you allocate a bit of space to plant them during September and October. You shouldn’t have as many problems with caterpillars during the winter, but it’s still worth netting them against pigeons and putting brassica collars around the base for protection against cabbage root fly.
Then we have lovely spring onions which are definitely worth growing, especially if you want to try growing the next things on our list, which are Chinese leaves, because then you can cook up lots of tasty stir-fries. The Chinese leaves include Pak Choi and Tatsoi and they are actually easier to grow in the colder months as they are less likely to suddenly bolt.
You’ve got a whole host of lettuce and salad leaves to grow too. Again, they are easy to grow in the colder months and there are lots of different varieties to make a change from your summer salads, including Corn Salad, Winter Purslane, Frills Mustard and Land Cress. They are all delicious and very healthy.
Rainbow Chard and Spinach continue to grow through the winter as well and you can get them planted in September and October to keep you eating your greens for the next few months. And of course you’ve got plenty of herbs to choose from – parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, as well as other less tuneful ones!
Finally, don’t forget about fruit. Most fruit trees are planted up in November time, so look out for them when we make them available a little later in the autumn.
