[AlaninCarlisle]

I have plenty of sprouts, parsnip, leek and celeriac still to harvest and a shed full of Egremont Russets so I reckon I could keep going until I harvest new carrots, spuds etc from polytunnel mid spring

[Blewit]

I don't class myself as a top gardener or anything but our one allotment provides veg of some description all year round making my wife and I almost self sufficient in veg.

Ready to harvest over the next couple of months there's red and green cabbages, beetroot, leeks, mustard leaves, pak choi, horse radish, chard & perpetual spinach, parsnips and celeriac.
Kale is the big one that sees us through the colder months, black, red Russian, daubentons and asparagus.
Already in the wings for spring are rocket, land cress, ellephant garlic (to eat as leeks as well as leaving some to harvest as bulbs), babington leeks and coming round eventually to asparagus.
Stored are spuds, onions, garlic, ellie garlic and five types of winter squash.
There's dried food too but the thread's about fresh so no need to go there.
I know by the end of next spring, much as I love kale I'll be well ready for the new seasons harvest.

[solway cropper]

If you include salad leaves,sprouted seeds and herbs then I can definitely produce something fresh all year round, even if it's only a garnish for a sandwich. Discounting them I still have beetroot, carrots, chard, kale, leeks, swedes and turnips on the plot and tubs of carrots, winter lettuce, radicchio and spring onions in the greenhouse.

[al78]

I can manage about six months, not this year as it was not the best for me, but in a good year I have an abundance of crops from May until October, then potatoes and winter veg from October to February. The winter stuff can only supplement by normal veg intake, so I still have to buy more in. I haven't got a greenhouse or polytunnel, so can't experiment with extending the growing season.

There is always going to be a limit as to what you can grow in the winter/early Spring months in the UK, even with a heated greenhouse. The daylength is just too short. There isn't that much that will produce when the night time is twice as long as the day time, there is insufficient light.

I could theoretically do a lot better but to be close to self sufficiency I would have to get a greenhouse or polytunnel and give up the day job. That is what puts me off a polytunnel, as I understand it you have to tend to it daily, which is fine if you are retired, but I am not in a position to do that at the moment.

[victoria park]

I look at the issue from a dietary perspective. changed to a seasonal diet and then keep lengthening the seasons at either end as and when. A bit of a faff sometimes, but not really, and gives me valuable weeks of food in the 2 month "gap".
Stored root veg, either in the ground or sand easily last til February, and a late winter holiday crop of potatoes in the greenhouse border help this, as December/January usually sees some of the stored Summer crop sprouting.
Being as I don't eat animals, the collection of beans and pulses in a dry state is very important, and like squirrels, I regard dried beans/nuts/ seeds as "fresh". And talking of squirrels, a bit of late Summer foraging for hazel nuts helps too. That counts, doesn't it ? 
An early crop of broad beans is essential in my regime to bridge the gap, hence over Winter planting, along with peas and carrots in the greenhouse to start harvesting end of April.
Red cabbage are useful as they last for months in the fridge. PSB is an absolute must and start just as the Brussels are finishing. The kale is an ever present. Various hardy greenhouse greens also supplement.
Japanese onions and leeks are useful to take over when the stored Summer ones are finished, although this year my leeks weren't great. Have put in twice as many senshyu to compensate, and put them in early. Half will be used small or spring onion-like when I run out.

I must be doing something right as I probably spend no more than £30 a year on vegetables, and that's mostly Winter treat peppers/cauli etc when friends and family come around. All I buy in shops are dairy, flour, grains and biscuits...... oh, and chocolate. Not much  I can do about that as I don't have the room to grow grain, although I keep threatening to do so. Seems like a lot of work though harvesting and milling anything useful.
Tomatoes and fruit are frozen, and in my opinion redcurrants are better out of the freezer than fresh. I still can't keep apples well all Winter, so lots of them get frozen too. Must get into pickling more.

[rowlandwells]

 I really have to say I enjoyed every reply I read talk about bringing a smile on my face its a big thank you to all for all your comments 

and no I'm sorry to say the freezer foods doesn't count no scores on the boards for that 

so back to my original topic and yes its been proven to happen but not by me well I'm good but not that good  but my father in law who was good gardener actually put veg on the table all year round with most of the veg mentioned and he had no poly tunnel no greenhouse only a tool shed he even clamped his spud crop and grew his own straw for the clamp

I fear I'm that same as most these days what would we do without our freezer because we depend on our freezers for all our surplus veg

 but I just can't seem to grow a good crop of Brussel sprouts for Christmas picking shame on me although I wasn't around before the ww2 probably only though of  but it seems that people where more aware of growing food on the allotments for the table than it is these days one mite say its more of a hobby than essential today because if we have a crop failure then we can always buy it from the supermarket and I suspect there are many out there that could tell a tale or two about there parents having allotments during the war years


I think its few and far between these days for  someone to actually putt fresh veg on the table 11 or 12 months a year and if there is anyone out there that can boast this then I really admire you for that because your a far better gardener than me 

once again as I said from the beginning most enjoyable reading your replies 






 

[snowdrops]

I’ve still got carrots,beetroots & parsnips to go at, with some parsley & leeks. There’s also the brassica cage with Tuscan kale & I spied my first decent crop of sprouts since I took on these plots 11 years ago( boy did I hammer them in & firm the ground up), I actually ate 2 raspberries straight from the canes today😊

[BumbleJo]

Don’t forget rhubarb folks, it’s technically a veg!    

[sunshineband]

As some of you have said, growing makes us far more aware of eating seasonally, appreciating each new crop much more than if you just buy it whenever you like from the supermarket, with it having travelled here from another country.

And although we do have the back up of buying food in the case of crop failure as a kind of security blanket, we are fortunate in having the space available to grow so much of our own food 

[jambop]

Depends on what you term fresh veg. For example from now until next years new spring stuff come around I will be able to go and harvest leeks, cabbage , sprouts, broccoli , lettuce and pakchoi as well as stored onions and garlic ... does that mean I can put fresh veg on the table every day of the year?

[gstrong]

Just started out this year with a planter I made from scrap wood and a few tubs.

We managed to get a decent crop of runner beans until early October, red onions, lettuce & rocket, peas, carrots, rhubarb, blueberries (a sorry looking 'twig' I rescued early this year - now in a pot with acid soil) courgettes, strawberries & potatoes in bags.

Wouldn't say we got something every day by a long way, but we definitely got the bulk of  several meals out of it :-)

I learned a lot and managed to get an allotment plot in late summer this year too. Have it cleared and prepared for spring planting now and have moved strawberry plants grown from runners and several raspberry canes to settle in over winter.

Hopefully from next spring it will begin to produce year round :-)

[JimB]

.

It doesn't matter much how good or diligent a grower you are, in the end it comes down to what part of the country and you type of soil!

Through work, I have had to move to different parts of UK, now living in Gloucestershire with heavy clay soil. it  is completely different to a garden right on the shores of Belfast lough, where I had a micro climate and lovely soil nurtured by others as well as myself with seaweed.

One year it snowed, but not on my garden, 300 metres away on the main road it was  ankle deep in snow!

Hamilton in Scotland, hard frosts over Christmas and into the New Year were common, as for the Peak District almost June time before I could get going!

A couple of weeks ago we had a hard frost, it finished the dahlias, chryths and a few begonias in my allotment, the ones in my back garden still have flowers on, though looking a bit ragged at the moment!

AND! a greenhouse or poly tunnel makes all the difference, they cannot be big enough!