Overwintering crops

[Laura Hillier]

A great variety of crops here! So, which ones will you all be trying?

Laura

[Alison]

The first winter I had a polytunnel I had some spare space at the end of a spring cabbage bed. Shoved in some very pot bound calabrese plants that hadn't got planted outside during the summer. They grew really well and come spring produced great heads. Grow some specially now as they were so good and would never have survived the foot or two of snow we had that year if they'd been outside.

[Florence Fennel]

It never ceases to amaze me how hardy broad beans are. Sown in October they take anything the English weather throws at them to emerge strong and healthy in the Spring. Marvellous. A colleague at work is in the process of giving over some of her garden to veg beds and I'm going to recommend broad beans for one of her first crops that she can overwinter and see fabulous results. I will warn her about the blackfly!

[David1949]

I have just put 10 Cabbage seeds called april and 10 Cabbage spring greens seeds called greenleaves
also 6 all year round Cauliflower in seed trays. So as all these should start to show in about 2-3 weeks and then i will plant them out in the middle of September i turned over my bed that my beans were planted in this year and all of the above will go into that

[Martin H]

David, I sowed 12 cabbage "April" 10 days ago and 9 of them are now through. I'll be planting them out at the beginning of September (under debris netting) before I go on hols, whatever size they are. Let's see whether mine do better than yours...

[Andypandi]

The best crop I have ever had was from my overwintering of onions. I read in this magazine somewhere that September was the time to plant onion sets to 'overwinter'. I had no idea what this meant at the time so I just gave it a go. In my old house I had three raised beds and since they were emptying out for the winter, I put a bag of horse manure (bought from the garden centre) on one of the beds, dug it in a little and then planted my sets. They grew for about a month showed some green leaves but then they stayed the same over the winter. All I did to protect them was put a net over them to stop my cats digging. We had snow and all sorts of weather but come next spring, they burst into life and grew into massive onions. I have some great pictures somewhere! I was so impressed with myself! I am sure my granddad would have been proud

[Bill HH]

I am ashamed at my lack of winter gardening, I really need to look into it more because living in Torquay we have such mild winters. In 14 years I have only seen snow worth mentioning twice and that didnt last long, as for frost my outside tap has never frozen and it isnt insulated. Just a couple of miles inland they get the lot but our particular area seems to get the full benefit of the warming gulf stream. Trouble is i dont have a clue what to plant, I do have parsnips and leeks this year and am going to get a load of onion sets for sure, i have always been dissapointed with sets planted in the spring, last year out of 40 only two survived. Just too much rain I think. So can anyone advice me what i should be planting for this winter? Oh i have planted some late potatoes in bags for Christmas which I will bring into GH when the cucumbers and tomatoes have done their thing.

luv Bill

[Tripmeup]

Garlic and Onions sets (as you mention) for starters..Shallots, winter salad leaves
I can recommend Radar sets (great crop from them this year)

[Polycarbclare]

Still getting to grips with terminology u gardeners use. Am I right in thinking that overwintering means seeds you can grow now in a GH and To get started in trays and on some cases plant Outside once established a few
Inches and they are stronger to go for next spring !? Is this correct!? Please can someone advise I'd love to keep my new found hobby
Going through the winter.


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[hamsterqueen]

I don;t have a green house, but you can plant some things outside in from now until october which will start to spring into life once spring starts, broad beans are great, chard will appear to die off and then start sprouting again in spring, cabbages can be sown or planted now and can be picked as spring greens, onions and garlic can be planted now, but will occupy the ground for a long time.

[Mr Bones]

We grow Daubenton's kale (perpetual kale) and harvest sparingly through winter, also leeks, parsnips and chard. Jerusalem artichokes are kept in the ground or in bags of compost and dug up as required and multiplying onions (they're like spring onions) are left in all winter.

[Number76]

Arctic king lettuce grown in a cold frame for the last two winters. Highly recommended.

[Vince G]

Mrs G and I have a polytunnel so we are usually picking the last of the tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers well into October. However, apart from a small row of winter Little Gem lettuces, the polytunnel stood largely redundant last winter. So this winter our intention is to experiment and try to grow things like spring onion, radish and chard, plus some overwintering peas and broad beans to get an extra ealry crop before the outdoor ones are ready. I shall be planting these mid-Sept.

[Inastate]

Last year my winter crops included Pak Choi, Mizuna, Chard, Giant Winter Spinach & a few different types of lettuce in a cold frame. They all lasted the winter.

does anybody know if any vegetables which can be planted from now,other than the above/lettuces, are a available for a winter harvest? I hear people talk about growing parsnips, squash, brussel sprouts & colliflower - are these for overwintering and harvesting in spring, or actually for a winter harvest?

[Dhalia]

elephant garlic was this year's triumph - I saved a dozen or so of last year's crop, filled a raised bed with the cloves last september, have just dug them up and they're drying in the shed - around 50, I reckon! Will have to give some away as xmas presents (!) as am still using last years.

have just got a polytunnel and would be interested to know what folks shove in around now to replace the toms and cukes which will shortly be coming out.