AUTUMN VEGETABLES

When it comes to gardening, one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects has to be growing your own vegetables as this ensures a regular supply of fresh, healthy and tasty produce for the whole family. The spring and summer are the main seasons for vegetable growing and most gardeners take full advantage of this. However, not many budding horticulturists realise that there are lots of vegetables that should be sown and planted in the autumn. The main benefit of starting vegetables now is that the resulting crops will mature early next year and often when similar produce is classed as ‘out-of-season’ and for sale at premium prices in the supermarkets. It also makes use of the vegetable plot which would otherwise sit idle and unproductive throughout the colder months.

SOME VEGETABLES TO SOW AND PLANT IN THE AUTUMN

BROAD BEANS

The humble broad bean is a delicious vegetable and has the advantage of being extremely easy to grow. It is traditionally sown in the spring for harvesting during the midsummer. However, savvy gardeners will also sow some broad bean seeds in the mid to late autumn, as the resulting plants are able to survive through the winter and produce a valuable late spring and early summer crop. For the best results, choose a tough and hardy variety, such as ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ or ‘The Sutton’ and bury the chunky seeds 2in deep and 6in - 8in apart in a sheltered, well-lit spot and a reasonably fertile and well-drained soil. To protect the seeds and seedlings from rodents and adverse winter weather, it’s a good idea to cover the rows with plastic or glass cloches. If you opt for a taller variety, like ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ remove the cloches in the spring when the broad beans growing underneath reach the tops and use a short cane (and twine) to support each plant. If you wish, dwarf broad beans, such as ‘The Sutton’ can be left under the cloches until maturity.

BULB ONIONS

Few gardeners plant bulb onions in the autumn as they mistakenly believe they won’t survive the winter outdoors. Fortunately, this is not the case and robust varieties, such as ‘Radar’, ‘Red Cross’ and ‘Troy’ have been specially bred for autumn planting. The simplest way to grow these onions is to plant ‘sets’ (small and immature onion bulbs) rather than seeds – pop them into the ground at 4in spacing’s and with the long and pointed tips just visible at the soil surface. For a guaranteed crop, a well-lit spot and a free draining soil are essential. These bulb onions mature from May onwards.

GARLIC

It’s a well-known fact that eating garlic has many benefits, including keeping the heart healthy and warding off colds and, because of this, every gardener should raise one or two plants. Garlic is also virtually trouble-free and takes up very little space. To produce a bumper crop, garlic must have a long growing season and exposure to a period of cold weather (when the temperature is below 10C) and this is why it is perfect for autumn planting. For reliability, try productive varieties, like ‘Purple Wight’ and ‘Solent Wight.’ To start, select a plump garlic bulb (purchase these from a specialist garlic grower or garden centre rather than a greengrocer as this will help avoid viral diseases) and then break it into individual cloves. Next, pick a sheltered, sunny spot with well-drained soil and plant the cloves so the pointed tips are 1¼ in below the soil surface – space them 6in apart. If you have limited room on the vegetable patch, garlic can be planted in containers filled with John Innes Number 1 compost and kept on the terrace or by the back door. Garlic is very hardy and cloche protection is not necessary through the winter. The garlic bulbs will mature in the early to midsummer.

PEAS

It’s hard to surpass the mouth-watering taste of fresh, home-grown peas and they are far superior to those bought in the shops. For this reason, it makes sense to sow peas in the autumn as the pods will mature as early as late May and early June. The most productive and hardy pea varieties for autumn sowing include ‘Douce Provence’, ‘Feltham First’ and ‘Meteor’ and all require a sheltered, sunny spot and a well-drained soil that has been recently enriched with plenty of well-rotted compost. When sowing, use a hand trowel (or hoe) to create a 6in wide and 2in deep drill and stagger the pea seeds inside, so they are 3in apart. To speed-up germination and provide protection from pests and poor weather conditions, always place cloches over the top. The plants need a means of support when they are around 3in high – otherwise the stems trail on the ground and attract slugs - and twiggy prunings are ideal for this purpose.

SALAD ONIONS

Salad onions (spring onions) produce succulent upright stems (rather than a swollen bulb) and can be mixed into green salads to give them extra bite. Fortunately, ‘White Lisbon Winter Hardy’ has been specially bred for sowing outdoors in the early autumn and will be ready for picking from the late winter to mid spring. To raise salad onions, sow the seeds reasonably thickly (there is usually no need to thin them) in a 1in deep drill and ensure the site is well lit and the soil well drained. In small gardens, salad onions also perform well in troughs and containers.

WINTER SALAD LEAVES

It may seem a little late to be sowing leafy salads but a few plants thrive through the colder months. For instance, corn salad (lamb’s lettuce) is hardy enough to be sown outside in the early autumn. Scatter the seeds in a shallow drill and thin the resulting seedlings to 4in or 6in apart - the succulent leaves should be harvested from the midwinter onwards. However, it is possible to speed-up the sowing-to-harvesting process by placing cloches over the top of the young seedlings. Winter lettuces, like ‘Valdor’ and ‘Winter Density’ can also be sown under cloches (or in a cold greenhouse) in the autumn for a spring harvest.

AUTUMN SOWING AND PLANTING TIP

To avoid a serious check to their growth, autumn vegetables should only be sown or planted on a day when the ground is not frozen or waterlogged.