Autumn might be on its way, but there’s no need to stop growing vegetables! With the soil still warm and several weeks to go before the weather turns really cold, seeds sown now will grow quickly, giving you harvests through autumn and even into winter if grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel. Dig in some garden compost or well-rotted manure to replenish your soil, and get planting! Here are six of our favourite vegetables to grow in autumn.
6 tasty vegetables to grow in autumn
- Radishes grow fast and can be ready to harvest in 4 weeks from sowing, so they’re ideal for a quick autumn crop. Sow the round red varieties in pots so you can bring them indoors if there’s a sudden cold snap, or sow winter radishes like the popular Japanese radish (Raphanus sativus ‘Longipinnatus’), also known as daikon or mooli, which grows well in cool temperatures. The peppery roots are delicious raw or cooked, and don’t throw away the leaves – they’re edible, too! When young and tender, they’re good raw in salads and pesto. Mature leaves can be steamed or sauteed, which gets rid of any bitterness.
- Between September and November is great for planting onion sets ensuring the soil is well drained. However, due to the risk of a tough winter, we would recommend planting some sets in cell trays so they can be used as fillers for any sets that have been lost through the Winter.
- Hardy spinach varieties like Spinach ‘Giant Winter’ will grow all through winter in a polytunnel or outdoors under the horticultural fleece, giving you harvests of cut and come-again leaves until spring. Enrich the soil with plenty of well-rotted manure or compost before sowing, and space the plants well to allow air to circulate, reducing the risk of downy mildew. Sow in late summer or early autumn for a late autumn harvest, with a second sowing to overwinter for harvesting in spring.
- Swiss Chard is a colourful alternative to celery and is great for adding to stir fries and hearty foods like Shepherds Pie. Swiss Chard is best sown directly into the soil. Scatter a few seeds into a drilled trench for best results.
- For winter salads, sow hardy varieties like lamb’s lettuce (Valerianella locusta) or Oriental greens like mizuna and mibuna, which grow well in cooler conditions. Planted in a polytunnel or under cloches, they’ll keep you in salad leaves all winter. Iceberg lettuce ‘Winter Gem’ also grows well under glass, and its compact size means you could even grow it in a pot on a balcony.
- If you have spare compost, put a layer into the base of a bucket and sow some Christmas potatoes. As the potatoes start to grow, layer up the compost, keeping the plants watered as you go. If there is a risk of frost at night, by using a bucket you can grab and the handle and place in a shed or garage. Do this until Christmas Eve, to enjoy new potatoes with your Christmas Dinner.
Enjoy harvesting your own home-grown vegetables and salads all winter with seeds and seedlings from our extensive range. Visit Lakeside today and get sowing!
