October planting

[chadspad]

Im helping my mate get her garden sorted and shes asked about planting veggies for winter - whats gonna be available to her? Weather should be kinder than UK.

[Andy Hamilton]

I am putting down some green manure and some broad beans in a couple of weeks.

[chadspad]

But the broad beans wont be ready until spring will they? Is there anything that can be ready for the winter? Will Chard still do now or spinach?

[dibnah]

raddish?

I will be planting japanese onions garlic coliflower in the next few weeks.

[the.fee.fairy]

I'm planting radish, Pak choi and lettuce this weekend if that helps.

What about some sprouts and potatoes for the christmas dinner table?
I think you might be able to get away with some carrots too.

[chadspad]

Are the carrots, cauli & sprouts from seed? Have scoured the packets in the shops this afternoon and most of those seem to say only til Aug.

[Millymollymandy]

Coriander - it is hardy all through winter. Obviously you can't pick it when it is frozen though!

I wouldn't sow carrots now. You could sow spring onions to harvest in the spring though.

It does depend how cold the winters are in the Vendee - most of France has much colder winters than most of the UK.

[chadspad]

Fortunately the Vendee has pretty mild winters (its a micro-climate apparently), certainly the last 2 havent been that bad at all - we didnt have any snow this last one. With the weather currently being a warm as it is, we should perhaps just give things a go as an experiment. My apple tree is in blossom at the moment

[supersprout]

It's not just the temp but also daylight hours that affect growth. I'd definitely sow spinach closely now (one seed per inch) - your chum can always eat baby spinach as thinnings during winter and wait for spring for the 'in between' plants to fatten up

[chadspad]

Thats great - Ive got some spinach seeds left over - thanks for that!

[silver8]

Have already got one very overworked allotment but took over another half a plot in early summer. Feeling pleased with myself because managed to clear it and it now contains my Autumn collection. Some of which I think is too late to now sow from seed like spring cabbages.
But have got 50 white and 50 red japenaense onions growing(both sets brought at the Newark Onion fair for for £1.29 a set). If you can get hold of them and then plant your normal onions as late as possible you will probably be self sufficient in onions.
Likewise with peas.There are varieties than you can sow now and will be ready before the ones you sow in spring. Ive got both a pea and a mangetout overwinterwintering.As a environmentally friendly gardener(used to call myself organic until the supermarkets made the term meaningless).
And this is the best time to sow Broad Beans because they are far less likely to be attacked by blackfly.This is the big advantage with Autumn sowing. All the pests become inactive.

[silver8]

Sorry. Great time to sow Garlic as well. Although I like to leave it to the shortest day.

[Shirley]

Hi Silver8 :welcomeish:

Thanks for that... we need to plant some garlic as we eat loads of the stuff.

Interesting point about calling yourself an environmentally-friendly gardener instead of an organic one..

[2steps]

I am going to plant some garlic and onions and maybe some peas to overwinter

[silver8]

Do worry about the weather. Today in Cardiff has been like a summers day. Great to work in but I notice that my Japanese onions are already sproating even though they have only been in a week. Not sure whether this is a good or bad thing.