Growing for winter is a year-round job. You have to ignore the bounty all around you through spring and summer and sow away single-mindedly: parsnips in March, kale in May, carrots in July, and so on. But this year, as for many years, I have been a little slack on this, and I find myself heading into autumn with the outdoor pantry looking bare.

One of these days I will learn this lesson, but for now it’s time to scout around and see what can be thrown quickly into the ground to provide a few morsels over winter and some early crops next spring.

By October, light levels are getting pretty low, and that does affect the rate and speed of germination, but there are a few things that are actually best started at this time – and some you can still get away with.

NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO…

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Sow broad beans

You don’t have to sow your broad beans now, but, again, it is hugely pleasing to see new growth so soon after Christmas.

Autumn-sown broad beans will also produce beans up to a month earlier and are likely to be less devastated by blackfly than spring-sown beans – as long as they survive winter. ………..

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Sow microgreens

As it becomes too chilly and gloomy to sow most seeds outdoors, so micros come into their own.

For the uninitiated, micros are tiny seedlings of strongly flavoured plants, harvested while very young (like the punnets of mustard and cress sold in supermarkets). The seedling is like concentrated essence of the whole plant, and this way you can extend summer flavours such as dill and basil into autumn and winter. The beauty of micros is that they don’t hang around long enough to realise that they are in the wrong season: almost as soon as they poke their heads above the soil, you snip them off for a garnish or salad. At this time of year, though, they may need some encouragement; if you can’t sow them in a greenhouse, pick a sunny windowsill.

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YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH…

Sowing winter lettuce

Lettuce does well through winter if you choose the right varieties and can give it a little protection. You can still get away with sowing hardy types such as ‘Rouge d’Hiver’, ‘Winter Gem’ and ‘Winter Density’. If you can sow under cover then do so, one or two seeds into each plug, later thinning out the smaller ones. Plant outside under fleece or – even better – under a cloche……..

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Sowing spinach

Spinach is a pain to grow in the summer when it runs to seed within days of reaching edible size. I much prefer to sow the hardy types in autumn to see me through winter. These need to be under a cloche, but you should still get good growth if you sow ‘Monoppa’ or ‘Atlanta’.

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Article source: The Telegraph
Image source: same as above