Well, whether or not you can still sow and plant depends very much on where you are in the country. I think I am very lucky in the UK in that I live in the South West and I believe that this is probably the best combination of weather conditions for the amateur grower. I really can’t say that about soil conditions and how they combine with the weather to provide excellent conditions depends very much on the season.
I could go on about this subject for a long time but, I think there are more dedicated people than I who can give you better information on the subject.
If you are interested in the science of growing and you can get hold of a copy, I really recommend – ‘Know and Grow Vegetables’ – P.J.Salter, J.K.A. Bleasdale, & others (from the national vegetable research station). Unfortunately, this book is now out of print and possibly some of the information is out of date but, what a wonderful source of information on growing. Do get hold of a copy if you can – it is still available second hand and maybe the authors would be inspired to rewrite if enough people wanted to buy it.
Today I want to discuss the use of the empty spaces now appearing on our plots as we harvest onions, peas, early and 2nd early potatoes. Well, my plot has these spaces so, I guess everyone else has them too. I suppose we could just shut down for the winter. Whoa there! This is July, the middle of summer and just because some of your crops have finished, been eaten or are now in the freezer, doesn’t mean that we can lie back and relax! Well, of course you can if you really want to.
We have a winter to face and more importantly, the lean months of spring. I think I am always planning ahead for the winter and the lean months, at the back of my mind. For the past two bitterly cold winters I have had to resort to the supermarkets to supply me with the vegetables I am now expecting to eat all time. Oh! The shame of it!
But, we can and should still plan ahead. There is a huge range of vegetable seeds and ‘plugs’ (very young plants grown by the major seed houses) which can still be planted out – most of them catering for the winter and ‘hungry gap- March/April’. If you want to go down this route, do consider what you really want and what you are likely to harvest in the winter months. These plugs are expensive so don’t buy them if you think you will not go out there in the bitterly cold weather to harvest them. But, it is good to know that there is a load of stuff you can still plant out and a smaller list of what can still be sown – depending on where you live.
The amazingly broad range of French Beans can still be sown – up to the end of July but, we are thinking about those beans which can be dried for use during the winter – and I do love them. I grow dwarf Borlotto and Yinyang beans and I had never had anyone coming back to me saying anything negative about them. They are also satisfyingly attractive on the shelf in glass storage jars.
You can, just about, get away with sowing French Beans for eating fresh now though, I would recommend sowing in pots in a green- house or poly tunnel after soaking overnight for best results. Try, Dwarf Purple Teepee – a favourite of mine which, this year, I left myself no space to plant. They are amazingly prolific so be sure to keep harvesting them, even if you can’t use them (compost, give to friends, sell, etc.) or they will stop producing. I have given the seeds to my son and I hope he’ll have success with them on his plot. I bought mine from Dobies but, lots of seed houses provide these. If you are looking for organic seeds, do try the Real Seed Catalogue – one of my favourite suppliers. By the way, bean and pea seeds will keep for a few years so, if you do have some over, think of using them next year.
It might still be possible to find young plants of sweetcorn – I believe it is too late to sow but you could still get a crop from them if you establish young plants now – have a look in your local garden centres. If you do, remember that they must be planted in square blocks, fairly close together to ensure the plants pollinate each other. My plants, and I have two different varieties planted side-by-side, seem to be producing the male and female flowers at different times. The plants are no more than 8ins (20cm) apart. I hope this is close enough as I have had poor results in the past from failed pollination. More later.
Of course, for me the basic and most important plant group for any season but, especially for winter and spring is the brassica family – cauliflowers, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, swede, etc.
It was not a good year for nurturing young plants from seed and I have been pushed to supplement my own with ‘bought-in’ plants. Dobies have provided a good service with excellent plants at the right times (and - NO! They don’t pay me to say this). You can probably still find lots of different brassicas for planting out now – definitely my favourites and most likely to provide for you during the winter and spring months – barring another particularly cold winter.
We can still sow seeds for a wide range of salad vegetables. Marshalls and Dobies sell an excellent range of salad leaves and I see that Dobies have eventually caught up with Lettuce – Winter Gem. Do try it. It will grow into late autumn and again in early spring and gives an excellent salad lettuce and one which can be cooked successfully.
I suppose carrots can still be sown though, in my experience the later the carrots are sown, the more likely
theyare to be attacked by carrot root-fly. I had high hopes for my carrots this year, having organised
with my daughter which ones were best for our different soil,types and which we had noticed more prone to
carrot rootfly. In my daughters experience the purple varieties were more affected and in my experience, the
white varieties were less likely to be attacked. I had also noticed that the earlier the crop the more likely
they were to escape attack. However, this year seems to have disproved all my expectations and
certainly those of the fans of growing carrots in raised beds. All of my carrot crops – whatever the variety,
colour or height of planting ( in my carrot box 1½ meters from the ground) have been attacked by carrot root-fly. So, I’m still looking and I haven’t yet had enough of a crop where I need to think about storing for the winter. I hope everyone else has had a much better result. Please let me know what you are doing.
If you have young plants of leeks, they could also still be planted out. Do cover them with fleece or
environmesh to keep the leek moths out.
If you really don’t fancy any of the crops for sowing or planting for the winter/lean months period, do think about a green manure, especially if you don’t have access to good animal manure – try ‘Mustard White’ from Dobies. It has to be said, I haven’t tried this. My ploy is to have all parts of my plot engaged in growing a crop I can eat or use. But, do remember that what you take out of the soil must be returned – one way or another.
This is also a good time to start thinking about next year – really, it is not so far away.
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