Wisley has now had 60 days without rain but with the wonderful prospect of ‘unsettled’ weather in the coming week and the end of this current heatwave, I won’t go on about the drought but be positive and look forward. Although Knights will be busy putting out the spring-flowering bulbs soon I want to look at what vegetables we can sow now for winter and autumn crops.
Most of us tend to sow like crazy in spring but forget to sow later in summer. I include myself in this. I had lots of lettuce in May and June but forgot (again) to sow more in May so I have not a lettuce in sight. But I did start sowing some late crops in June and so I have chicory almost ready to harvest (I have cut a few immature plants) and have sown other crops.
There is a whole range of plants that can be sown now to crop in autumn and through winter. Most of these are unfamiliar to traditional UK gardeners. But they are useful because they grow quickly and provide useful crops when there is little else to harvest in winter and spring. Of course there are kales (which you can still sow now for baby leaves) and winter and spring cabbages and Brussels sprouts but they need to be sown in May so you have missed out on those.
Most of these ‘new’ crops are annuals and, if sown in spring they run to flower so they are sown after the longest day, usually in late July and August, so they produce leaves and large plants ready to bloom in spring the next year, by which time we will have eaten them. This is why you pak choi and Chinese cabbage do poorly if sown in spring. Sow them now.
The same is true of Florence fennel. It is a wonderful crop and quite easy to grow but you must sow after June and it needs to be grown quickly, with plenty of water or it can be tough and stringy – good luck with that this year!
Moving on from the Orient with all those easy to sow and grow Chinese greens we are now among the Mediterranean crops. These are designed to be grown in a climate that is too hot to grow in summer but is cool and wet in autumn and winter. Sound familiar? So these ‘niche’ crops may well become more popular. Radicchio, chicory and endives are all related and all can be sown now. Endives are often ‘blanched’ when almost full grown – the simplest way is to put a plate on the centre to exclude some light. This reduces the bitterness of the leaves. The tough red central hearts of radicchio, included in most fancy salad bags, are quite hardy and can be harvested in autumn or winter. And although chicory means the ‘forced’ Belgian chicons to most of us, there are lots of other kinds including ‘Sugar loaf’ chicory which is my favourite and rather like a Cos lettuce.
Of course, all leafy veg are healthy. Endive and chicory all contain inulin, a soluble fibre that is prebiotic, so they have many extra health benefits. They all have leaves that are tougher than lettuce and a slightly (or definitely) bitter taste which may be something of an acquired taste. I like it but then I like ‘bitters’ and ‘Aperol’. If you hate them then maybe these autumn salads are not for you.
In that case you could try lambs lettuce (corn salad). This is a rather strange plant, related to Vervain and is a valerian. It is a winter hardy, small plant with dark green leaves and tiny flowers in spring. Like all these salads it is easily grown in a pot of multipurpose compost but will withstand winter better in a polytunnel. It is often harvested as baby plants and bags of lambs lettuce contain whole, small plants with washed roots attached. If it is starved or grown in poor, dry soil it can get mildew but is easy to grow if you grow it quick and well watered. It can be eaten at all stages. The soft, rather ‘flabby’ leaves do not have a lot of taste but that makes then ideal to mix with punchy chicory or lettuce. And they are green so very good for you.
There are other crops to sow now and the most interesting are the winter radishes. They include the black-skinned types and the Chinese varieties that often have green skins and pink violet, green or white flesh. And don’t forget the long, white mooli types.
Christmas potatoes
As well as all these tasty leafy crops now is also the time to plant potatoes for fresh new potatoes at Christmas.
You can buy the tubers now and plant them in planters or bags, in multipurpose compost. Keep them growing all summer and autumn and they will be ready to harvest in October or November and then you put the whole bag in the greenhouse or shed before the first frost and use them as needed. Potatoes are going to be expensive this autumn because of poor yields, so grow you own. There is still time and Knights have the seed potatoes in stock now but they are selling fast.