Bare Soil & What to Sow Now

NewBoy2 · September 2017

Dopey question No 7

I am just digging up my spuds and onions and will have 2 beds both 14 foot x 14 foot

? What can I plant now to use in a few months

[Deleted User] · August 2017

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Stuart R · August 2017

This week in central Scotland I have sown:

Winter Spinach (Viroflex crops October - April if sown now) - A real winner and winter greens staple.

Chinese Cabbage - Wong Bok (WIll mature by end of October and can stand for a month or so after that), sow into September under cover for winter harvest

Several varieties of Pak Choi (will grow into winter if fleeced).

Land Cress - Crops all winter long without protection here.

Rocket - As above, but may need protection from hungry pigeons!

Purslanes and/or Miners 'lettuce' - heavy crops throughout winter if protected.

Lambs 'lettuce' - Grows fine without winter protection.

Hardy lettuces - I've found 'Winter Gem' to be a real winner - Sow from mid August to January (yes January) outdoors under a cloche or fleece for a fresh salad crop from November to May.

Japanese and Chinese 'Flowering Shoots' such as Tsoi Sim and Kailaan - Sow into September for delicious sweet 'Brocolli' whilst Western varieties are out of season.

Asian 'Mustards' - Group of extremely hardy plants widely grown for their leaves over winter in Asia. Eat raw or cooked as Spinach. Very Reliable and no protection required (good selection at realseeds.co.uk).

Erba Stella or Italian Plantain - Good as a salad leaf or cooked as Spinach - WIll crop till December, all winter in a polytunnel if sown now, but not terribly hardy.

Chard - Will happily crop all winter till April if sown now.

Coriander - A Hardy annual herb - Given a bit of protection you can harvest fresh leaves till December then again from February when growth restarts (I have found 'calypso' to be particularly hardy!).

Florence Fennel - If you have a patch of rich soil in full sun (Sunrise to Sunset) you can sow fennel now to harvest young in November.

Overwintering onions - I plant Japanese onion sets now, mainly for harvesting as 'spring onions' October to April.

Winter Radishes - Radishes such as Daikon mature quickly if sown whilst the soil is still warm. Many are very hardy and can stay in situ till harvest through till April.

#Think about planting garlic from October - Although to me Autumn planting is over recommended. Planting from December always produces healthier plants for me.

I have been growing all of these successfully for several years over winter here in central Scotland. There's no reason we all can't enjoy growing and harvesting more crops in winter! There are many hundreds of hardy winter vegetables which have been grown in Asia for Thousands of years and that us 'Westerners' are mostly oblivious to. If you can obtain the seeds for these brilliant vegetables there's no reason for winter allotment veg to be limited to Brussel Sprouts and Parsnips..

Stuart

Last edited: 25 August 2017 09:56:08