OUR resident gardening expert TANYA PEARSON is here with some green fingered advice for those preparing for the colder spell.
WELL, I don’t know about you, but I blinked and seem to have missed the summer. And not only that, but now we have frosts that may or may not come… we just have no idea what’s going to happen. But alas, let’s assume that with the arrival of autumn is the inevitable arrival of winter, which means there are preparations to be made in the vegetable garden before temperatures approach zero. Pull all of your onions and garlic and once they’ve dried out, store them by plaiting the stems together and hanging them up or by cutting off the stems and storing them in a net bag. Use any onions that have gone to seed up first. Use all autumn leeks as they’ll go mushy if left, but winter leeks will sit in the ground happily throughout the winter. I dig my potatoes up earlier as I find the slugs have usually demolished them by now if left in the ground, but this is your last chance to dig up your remaining main crop potatoes. Don’t wash them, but do make sure they’re dry, and store them in paper or hessian sacks. Any damaged ones should be kept out and used up first to stop the spread of rot. Leaving a few inches of the vine attached so as to reduce the chances of rotting, gather your squashes and pumpkins in.
Store all of these crops in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place such as a garage, checking regularly for mould and use damaged crops first. Now that that’s done, there is still time to sow greens under cover so we can have them fresh over the winter months and early spring. In a greenhouse, cold frame, or under cloches (even cutting the bottoms of 5 litre bottles off), spring onions, winter lettuces, mustard, mizuna, rocket, lambs lettuce, kale, chard, winter varieties of spinach, and peas for shoots can all be grown. For small roots in early Spring, some varieties of carrots and beetroot can be sown now. You can harvest the leaves of the beetroot over the winter and then leave the roots to mature to golf-ball size, ready early next year. Herbs such as chives and parsley can be grown in pots on a sunny windowsill. Winter varieties of broad beans such as Super Aquadulce can be sown, either directly into the ground or into modules and then planted out when they are 10-20cm (4-8 inches). These will be ready to harvest in late spring and what’s advantageous is that the tips of the plants that blackfly are attracted to tend to be tougher and they usually leave them alone. Happy growing, folks!
Green manures
AS we cut down old plants and clear beds, we are left with rather a lot of empty space. You can leave the soil exposed and bare, or you can cover it with plastic or cardboard, essentially ‘putting it to bed’. Another option is green manures. Green manures provide natural protection for the soil over the winter and increase soil fertility and health, the most important thing when it comes to growing annual crops sustainably. You have lots to choose from: Clovers, Buckwheat, Phacelia, Rye (one of the cheapest and easiest to find – your local health food shop will probably stock it), to name a few. Do research as different ones are better suited to different soil types. Winter field bean, grazing rye and Italian ryegrass are a few that are still okay to sow in October and November. Once you’ve chosen, simply scatter the seed quite thickly over the soil surface and gently rake approximately 3cm (1”) of soil over the top of it. Birds are often attracted to it, so putting up a few bird scarers may be necessary (CDs or foil trays hanging from bamboo canes work well). In the late winter to early spring, either cover your beds with cardboard for a no-dig method, or cut your green manure down to the ground, add it to the compost bin, and dig the roots into the soil. For both methods, leave the bed at least a month before directly sowing seeds into it, however larger plants are okay to plant sooner.