Crops for Winter

[Chickpea]

I've had a lovely afternoon with all my packets of seeds, sorting them out according to what month they need to be planted in. I've drawn lots of pretty sketches of my allotment in various months showing what will be growing where, what needs digging, weeding, watering and so on. And I've also made a chart of what I can harvest at what time.

And we're all going to starve to death by January.

What should I plant to tide me over the winter? November and December look quite poor, with January to April looking desperate. I've got sprouts, leeks and winter cabbage. Is there anything else I can be growing to eat over those months, or do we have to depend entirely on the freezer and preserves until May?

[Wombat]

Well it wasn't called the "hungry gap" for nothing......

What about other brassicas? Broccoli and Cauliflower? What about tunips and swedes and other root type crops?

We can grow that stuff here, but with your harsher climate I am not sure.

Nev

[Rough Jack]

Gidday

Yep, good old Nev is spot on. We can grow all he suggested down here but the cabbage and cauli take a hiding from our frost though. Kale is another brassica that can take cold winter.

And don't forget you carrots. You should be able to eat carrots outa your own garden all the year through.

Get into a habbit of planting every damn thing in succession and see how it goes. Don't just say someone said I can't do it so then don't try. So what if you lose one or two things, give it a go.

When I came down here to the South Island I was told there was a lot I couldn't grow and only some of it was true but by giving it a go, yes I am selfsufficient-ish with my veges.

[Chickpea]

Thanks. I definitely realised the importance of growing successionally last year. We only got our allotment in late spring so we planted a lot of things later than the books said you should. Some stuff failed, but some things grew really well and we were harvesting e.g. runner beans after all the other allotmenteers said their season was over. I realised that each crop has a longer growing season than many people think. But normally they plant all their beans, for example, on the same date, so they all ripen around the same date giving a huge glut followed by nothing at all.

[Rough Jack]

Gidday

Hey ChickPea, that's exactly what I meant. Actually beans are a ghood example of another thing to remember. Beans are the fruit that you harvest after they have flowered. It is very important to keep them picked and never let any get too old because as soon as beans, and anything else that produces like them, have any fruit that have past a certain maturity, they simply stop producing so those other jokers with their allotments may have been able to keep their beans going if they had been kept picked. If you can't eat em all or don't preserve them or whatever, no worries, just pick em and drop em as they will go back into the soil and won't be wasted there.

[red]

that hungry gap is usually filled with cabbages - gawd no wonder people get depressed in January!

think stored veg.. carrots puds etc

then there are J-artichokes... which can stay in the ground...

[Rough Jack]

Gidday

Whats wrong with spuds, carrots, swedes, broccolli, kale, parsnips and all that with a nice mutton roast and gravy? Especially if you top it off with some mnt sauce. Yum.

I don't go hungry in the winter and our winters are cold enough down here.

[Millymollymandy]

I've got leeks, curly kale, carrots and parsnips for good old winter veg, plus spring onions for my salads!

[2steps]

I have some califlowers left. they did nothing last so I just left them in and we have been eating the greens, well my OH has I can't stand them. this morning I found one has a real califlower in it its only little but at least they weren't a complete disaster

I really don't like a lot of the winter veg, I hate the hungry gap

[supersprout]

With you on more successional planting this year chickpea!
The rest of the family don't like kale or cabbage but we still have something to enjoy until May:

From the plot: PSB (will be ready in Feb), cauli, beetroot, lettuce, leeks, Jerusalem Artichokes, leaf beet, salsify, scorzonera, couve tronchuda, celeriac, parsnips, flat leaf parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary. We're growing tons of autumn sown onions, so I could pull and use as green onions for stir fries and salads too

From store: winter squash, Bramleys, dried Borlotti and butter beans, Desiree spuds, carrots, bottled fruit and passata.

Failed to grow enough onions and garlic last year or they would be in that 'store' list