Planning Your Veg Garden Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables

Posted on 23. Jul, 2010 by Tracey in Plan Plot

Hopefully since the last Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action, you’ve reaped the rewards from your growing vegetables by having a few good harvests and more to come before the end of the Summer.

In the months of July and August in the UK, you will now now need to be thinking about winter vegetables. Sow seeds by late August for the vegetables that you will want harvest in the next few months and into next year.

Action Plan

1. Check seed catalogues and online websites for autumn and winter growing vegetables,
2. View my Winter Vegetable Growing Guides for inspiration on what to grow,
3. Read my tips on Vegetable Seeds to Sow in July, August, September, October and November for seeds and sets to plant out in the next few months,
4. If you want to know what vegetables will be ready to harvest at Christmas – please view my 3 Part Series – The 12 Vegetables of Christmas.

Planning for Winter Vegetables

Thats right, its out with the pencils and paper or logging back into PlanGarden.com to renew your vegetable garden plans for the next few months.

Step 1 – Work out which areas are free to sow seeds in

Step 1 - Draw your Plot

With the vegetables already growing in your plot, write down the approx months they will be ready to harvest to see how much space you will have left to sow/plant your winter vegetables.

If there are vegetables almost dying off and ready to be pulled out, use this space in your plan to sow winter vegetables.

For example:
In Plot 1, I have:

• Onions – ready to harvest,
• Mange Tout – dying off,
• French Beans – producing beans,
• Kohl Rabi, Kale and Broccoli – Seedlings.

Mange Tout – As the mange Tout is dying off, it will be ready to pull out in a few weeks, I will mark this area as blank space for winter sowings.

Onions are ready to harvest, they were being stored in the ground so again they will be harvested and this area marked as blank space.

French Beans are currently being harvested but there’s still tiny beans growing so it will be a while before they are harvested, I’m guessing mid August at the earliest. This is ok because onion, shallots, broad beans and peas can be sown or planted in October and November so this space could be used for that purpose.

If you didn’t want to leave the soil bare for 1 or 2 months, radishes or loose leaf lettuces can still be sown now for you to harvest in September.

Kohl Rabi, Kale and Broccoli Seedlings – This space will be marked as taken for the rest of the year. I would probably use this space to sow next years very early carrot sowings in February.

Step 2 – Things To Consider

New Cloche on Raised Beds

Crop Rotation
If you are considering Crop Rotation, please refer back to Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types to help you plan for a change in your plots as this is the best time to do it before winter sowings are made.

Cloche Cover
As the weather and temperatures get colder from late September to October onwards in the UK, it is worth making or buying a cloche to cover your vulnerable vegetables throughout the winter until spring when the ground warms up again. Cloches made from enviromesh or horticultural fleece are valuable as they don’t allow frost to penetrate to your vegetables. These netting materials are widely available and on Ebay.

Pests and Diseases
Before sowing your winter vegetables or covering your area with a cloche, check other plants in your area for pests and diseases. Identify whether they could be a problem to the crop you are growing or will they be under control by the time a cloche is used. Otherwise the pest or disease may spread to your other plants. For example Caterpillars can be a pest problem in late summer to autumn.

Step 3 – Extra Care Needed in Winter

Frost

Frosty Leaf

Please read my post on The affects of Snow, Ice and the Cold on your Vegetable Garden to find out the advantages and disadvantages of harsh weather.

To find out your Frost dates, please use these external links:

• UK Frost Dates by Town,
• USA Frost Dates by State,
• Australia Frost Dates by Town.

Snow

Snow is a danger to vegetables especially as it can freeze into ice and expand and contract when melted. It should also be removed as soon as possible from cloches as they may cause them to collapse under the weight.

Please click here for more information on the 10 Vegetables That Can Survive the Snow.

If you have missed any of the Parts in my Planning Your Vegetable Garden Series, please see below:

• Part 1 – Grouping Vegetable Types and Crop Rotation,
• Part 2 – What Can I Grow?
• Part 3a – Drawing a Plan
• Part 3b – Creating a Plan Online
• Part 4 – Choosing your Seeds
• Part 5 – My Vegetable Plan and Seed List
• Part 6 – Putting Your Plan into Action
• Part 7 – Growing Winter Vegetables
• For Free PDF’s and Templates to accompany the series, please view my Free Resources.

Share

Tags: cloche cover for vegetables in winter, crop rotation in winter, extra care needed for vegetables in winter, frost vegetables, growing in raised beds, growing winter vegetables, how to grow winter vegetables, plan your kitchen garden, plan your plot for winter, plan your raised bed plots, plan your vegetable garden, planning for winter vegetables, planning your plot for sowing winter vegetables, planning your veg garden, snow and vegetables, sow winter vegetables in july and august, things to consider growing winter vegetables