Top 10 Vegetables to Grow Over Winter

Autumn planting onion sets are easy to grow and will virtually look after themselves over winter. Onions have a long growing season and won’t be ready for harvesting until next summer, so you will need to plan carefully as they will still be in the ground when you start planting other crops in spring. Onion ‘First Early’ is a popular and reliable variety or for a brightly coloured red onion try Onion ‘Electric’. In recent years Shallots have become more popular with the trendy gardener. Autumn planting ‘Echalote Grise’ is a particularly choice variety for its intense and concentrated flavour.

 Garlic

Spring Onions

Winter hardy varieties of Spring onion make a tasty accompaniment to winter salads. They are a fairly quick growing crop and early autumn sowings should be ready to harvest by early spring. Spring Onion ‘White Lisbon’ is a popular and reliable winter hardy variety.

Perpetual Spinach

Perpetual spinach makes an excellent ‘cut and come again’ crop that will produce huge yields of tasty leaves. Early autumn sowings will keep you supplied with tender young leaves throughout winter and with regular harvesting it will continue to crop well into summer! Be sure to remove the flowers to prevent it running to seed.

Broad Beans

Autumn sown broad beans can be harvested in spring up to a month earlier than spring sown plants. Broad Bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ is one of the best for autumn sowings, being particularly quick to establish. Once the plants are well grown you can even use the plant tips – they are delicious wilted with a little butter.

Asparagus

If you have plenty of space then why not plant a permanent asparagus bed this autumn. Choose an autumn planting variety such asAsparagus ‘Pacific 2000’ or the colourful variety ‘Pacific Purple’. Although asparagus beds take several years to establish, each asparagus crown can produce up to 25 spears per year and will continue cropping for 25 years. You will need to be patient with this crop as it will be 2 years before you can harvest them properly – but the promise of tender, home grown asparagus spears is well worth the wait.

Winter Salads

Salads are not just for summer! Sow tasty ‘cut and come again’ mixes such as ‘Winter Blend’ under cover for harvesting throughout the winter months. Plant rows of Lambs Lettuce, Land Cress and Mustard alongside to add a spicy, peppery flavour to your winter salads. For tasty, crisp heads of Lettuce you can also try Lettuce ‘Winter Gem’.

Carrots

For an exceptionally early crop of carrots in spring try growing Adelaide. This fast-maturing variety can be sown as early as November in the greenhouse and as late as July outdoors.

Pak Choi

This dual purpose oriental vegetable can be harvested young throughout the winter as individual salad leaves, or let the heads mature and add the succulent stems to stir fries. Pak Choi is quick to mature and packed full of healthy vitamins A and C as well as Calcium, Iron and Folic Acid. Although it is often grown as a summer crop, Pak Choi can still be sown in late summer for transplanting under cover in autumn.

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From: http://www.allselfsustained.com/top-10-vegetables-to-grow-over-winter/