[Nugget]

With my allotment starting get spaces now is it to late to plant winter veg if not what can i put in?

[kentishlad]

Hi,
I'm probably a bit late but I've just stuck some turnips in with my brassicas, the packet said July but I figure they are hardy so I'd take a chance.

I think beetroot is late as July too but I don't think it's as hardy? Has anyone sown any now for this year I wonder? I did sow some about a month ago but they never germinated, I think the combination of heat and very dry weather didn't help.

Isn't it onions from seed you can plant around now including spring onions but they aren't ready for eating until late spring / early summer,  hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong on that.

I don't think there is anything else you can plant now that will be ready this winter, all the brassica's and roots needed to be in spring time ish.


Cheers,

Wayne.

[James]

Two years ago I planted French beans at the beginning of September and was picking them in early December.  (Bang slap in the middle of London, so a strangely warm microclimate, with the River Thames close enough to help to keep the frost off.)

You might get away with peas, if you plant an 'early' variety like Meteor.  I've never managed to make a boiling of garden peas... they all get nibbled in the garden!

Onions, yes.  If you can get hold of baby plants, then spring cabbage and leeks.  

Salads.  Sarah Raven had an excellent article in the Telegraph earlier this year about winter salads.  Loads you can be planting.

Potatoes - worth a go; again with an early variety.

Broad beans for next year - be the first with beans on your plot.

Keep going with radishes and baby carrots like parmex.  

And then in a couple of months time you can get planting fruit trees.

I should add that having harvested my potatoes last week, I straight away double dug the entire contents of my compost heap in and then planted: carrots, radishes, various lettuces, rocket, beetroot, onions and spring cabbages.  No time for hanging about here!

[Judymac]

One recommended for Aug - Sep plantings, Winter Spinach ! Planted mine this week and they are already up and growing  
I also planted some fast growing carrots.. so we'll see  :roll:
Judy

[earthgirl]

I've also been looking into veg I can plant over winter. I've been gathering info on this, including from Sarah Raven's excellent book "The Great Vegetable Plot", also some of the online seed catalogues have good info on this.

I'm going to give it a try both in a coldframe and in the open ground. Some possibilities I'm looking at are: spinach, chard, chicory, mizuna, shungiku, lamb's lettuce, claytonia, minutina, rocket, golden streaks mustard, Tokyo bekana, perpetual spinach, rapini, spring cabbage, Chinese cabbage, kale, winter lettuce, winter radish, choy sum, texsel greens...

I also want to try growing pea tips indoors all winter (Sarah Raven's idea).

 

[noshed]

I'm trying kohl rabi as well - it says on the packet it grows quickly.

[Stevens706]

The old boys on my allotment site say to plant garlic next month.