[clairebeau]

Right...I'm having a bit of a moment here...I can't get my head round this.  :blink:

In the ground now I have Brussels Sprouts, PSB (still diddy, pfft!!), Cabbage (again they're diddy 'January Kings')  and some Kale plants. I also have a pack of Broad beans I was going to plant but I don't see how they will survive.

OK, so here it is...do all of the above just sit in the ground until Spring and then burst into action or do they actively grow bigger throughout the cold months? They're still looking all like little babies and I'm not sure how they'll manage low temps.  How does it all work please. I may have just been too late with things and all the grubs and creatures will get a pre-hibination feat!


(you know that stupid question we say doesn't exist...well I think this was it)

Thanks for reading. xx

[viettaclark]

My second sowing of black kale is still very small as are my spring cabbage/winter cabbage and late psb.
Last year they grew up to the very cold weather (so still plenty of time) and started going mad in February giving me crops in early spring.
I may be a bit late for the winter cabbage and psb but I was waiting for room! Planted out the others in late October last year so no probs.
Aquadulche broad beans can be sown in October to overwinter too. And don't forget garlic!
They're all pretty tough.

[Madame Cholet]

The soil holds the heat well into the autumn and plants often put down roots even if you can't see top growth.

ow onion sets, J artichokes, wizzard beans

[BabbyAnn]

Different veg have their own cold resistant limit so some are more hardy than others - most winter hardy veg will be fine during a "normal" winter (some frost, some snow, rain etc) but even they can succumb to severe winter conditions like over 2010/2011 when the snow came early and stayed around at sub zero temps for weeks on end.  Root crops probably survive better as their roots are protected by soil and the top growth dies back - also, the starch in the roots is converted to sugars which act like anti freeze (and one of the reasons why parsnips taste better after a good frost)   Winter hardy brassicas naturally tolerate cold weather but even their leafy growth can be damaged by extreme weather - as plants they'll survive but as harvestable crops then they will probably be ruined.

Some winter hardy crops will grow when conditions are cool but it is very slow - I'd say anything that is to be harvested over the winter months should be almost ready to harvest by the time autumn shifts into winter.  As for spring harvesting, then yes, the plants are likely to go dormant until conditions warm up again.  Broad beans are more delicate than brassicas and not for everyone - they are sowed in late summer/early autumn so that they germinate and grow just a few inches tall (you don't want tall plants when autumn shifts into winter as they can get damaged by high winds) and then go dormant until spring.  If winters are bad where you live, then a late winter/early spring sow would be a better option.

[mumofstig]

Winter cabbage should be fairly big plants already, (although they may not have started forming a head) cos you'll be cutting them during the cold weather, rather than waiting for them to grow big enough to eat - when did you sow?
Spring cabbage would be smaller cos it does most of its growing when the weather warms up
Kale can also be a bit smaller cos you'll be picking leaves in the winter rather than a whole cabbage head, so there's still time for them to grow.
 
They will all stop growing during the coldest weather and then start again when it warms again.

[grendel]

I planted garlic in November last year, by the time the snow came they were just a few inches of shoot sticking out of the ground - they survived the winter and went on to give a decent crop.
Grendel

[azubah]

I usually keep my broad bean sowing till spring as the snow can set them back or sometimes kill the plants.