Autumn / Winter growing has always been a mystery to me. I normally just leave the balcony bare and wait for February to come before planting seeds for the summer. But this year I have a few ideas about what to grow, normally I'm not a great Winter grower, but I've been researching some vegetables that can be grown over the Winter months, for early harvesting in May / June.
I decided on the selection of vegetables in the table above. For me Onions and Garlic were a must have, I've gone for
Onion Radar Sets and
Early Purple Wright Garlic Bulbs (soft neck), both easy to grow and won't bolt in the winter months, so I should get a good growth. It was pointed out to me that Onions can be planted in early March and still arrive June / July time, but I'd like to try these over winter and I will save some for planting in March just in case disaster strikes.
During my research I also found that Winter greens were good to plant, such as Spring Cabbage, Pak Choi and Leeks, now I'm a little late with the planting of my
Elefant Leeks (this should have been done last month, as the packet states) but as I'm growing from seed in a propagator indoors, I'm hoping this will help give them a good start. The Pak Choi seeds, free from
Garden Kitchen, have been planted straight outside and have replaced the earlier pulled carrots from their pot. These were just sprinkled into the pot, covered with a layer of compost and watered well. The Spring Cabbage I've gone for is
Cabbage Advantage F1 seeds, these are good for planting all year around, from March to September, so I should be able to keep a very good supply going.
I also had some leftover
Onion (Spring) White Lisbon Winter Hardy seeds, which can be planted up till September and will stand over winter so they can be used in Spring. The only thing left to sow in the propagator is of course the Carrots, I've opted for the
Carrot Early Nantes 2 another variety that should have been sown in July, but fingers crossed, they should be fine in the propagator and hopefully I'll have some ready for Christmas time.
As I only have a small Balcony, I'm hoping this will be enough to see me through and keep me busy during the Autumn / Winter months and hopefully I'll have plenty to harvest, leading up to the Summer seed planting I'll begin in February.
