If you’re keen to harvest a selection of tasty vegetables once winter frost arrives, then a gardening expert has shared several crops you can plant right now. Whilst numerous crops are usually gathered during late summer and autumn months, there’s a remarkable variety that becomes ready for picking throughout winter, reports the Mirror.
This proves excellent news for gardeners wanting to savour their own fresh produce throughout the year. Even more promising, these varieties will flourish once more come spring, ensuring you maintain a thriving garden. But which seeds ought you begin planting now? Based on guidance from an Ideal Homes specialist, these vegetables prove perfect for September sowing ahead of winter harvesting.
Often called corn salad, this verdant leafy green boasts a delicate, nutty taste with subtle tangy notes. It’s frequently enjoyed fresh in salads or lightly steamed as an accompanying vegetable.
Ideal Homes suggested these seeds perform best when sown during cooler conditions, specifically when temperatures range between 15 and 21 degrees. They recommended planting seeds “a half inch deep” with spacing of roughly five to 10cm between each, whilst maintaining 30cm gaps between rows.
They explained: “Keep the soil moist, and you can start harvesting baby leaves within six weeks. Plants will reach full size by 12 weeks after sowing.”
Known alternatively as arugula, these zesty peppery leaves provide an ideal method for adding punch to salad bowls or sandwiches.
It’s most successfully sown during autumn and can become harvest-ready in merely four to six weeks following planting. Ideal Homes recommends that they can be cultivated in soil or containers positioned in a sunny spot.
The soil should remain moist, with seedlings thinned out as they emerge.
These crisp vegetables make a favourite salad addition and can be gathered during winter months. Indeed, this period provides the final opportunity to sow robust winter varieties.
According to Ideal Homes, radishes can be planted in “any gap” within your garden and should be ready for harvesting once they reach an inch in width.
Winter lettuce describes varieties that have been specifically developed to endure cold conditions, including Mizuna and Winter Purslane.
However, whilst they can cope with light frost, Ideal Homes notes that you should preferably “get covers in place by October, so they will be able to give you harvests of lettuce leaves throughout the colder months.”
Recognised by several different names, such as green onions and spring onions, bunching onions represent an excellent choice for September sowing. Ideal Homes said they can deliver a “quick harvest” following approximately eight weeks.