BY JOYCE RUSSELL
It may seem late in the season, and for some things it may be better to buy small plants if you can, but there are still plenty of seeds that you can sow now to give you some tasty things to eat through the next few months.
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If you can provide some cover, with a polytunnel, greenhouse, or even a cold frame or cloche, then it’s easier to start things growing than it is in open outdoor beds.
Weather is a big factor of course – if it’s a warm autumn then plants grow more than they do if there is a serious temperature drop.
And if we have a repeat of last year’s rain then this can hinder growth a lot.
It can be hard to gauge exactly when small plants will peak when we don’t know quite what the winter will bring.
But if you get some seeds sown now and then more in a couple of weeks and maybe more again in later October, then you should have a good spread of things to pick through winter and spring.
Remember that slugs and snails will still be active until temperatures drop and rodents can be a pain if they dig up peas and beans – act swiftly to deal with these things and hopefully your sowings will grow strong enough to survive what winter brings.
Lettuce
Choose winter hardy varieties and sow seed in pots or trays. You can plant out in rows under cover when the seedlings are 5cm tall, but do protect from slugs.
Other salad leaves
Some favourites are: rocket, mustard greens, lamb’s lettuce, winter cress and mizuna. All do well if sown direct in rows under cover. Sow seed a little thicker than you would in spring to allow some to fail. You can get packets of mixed salad leaves which will include some of the above if you want to sow a mixed row.
Spring cabbage
Seeds can be sown now in pots or trays. Prick seedlings out into larger pots and grow on until they are big enough to be planted out. Spring cabbage can do well outdoors, although late sowings may not produce good heads until late spring. Under cover plantings will grow faster and cleaner because of the protection from wind and rain.
Spinach
Choose winter varieties and sow in rows directly where they will grow. You should have plenty of young tender leaves next year. If you prefer the easier perpetual spinach, start this in a pot and plant out when 5-10cm tall.
Kale
There is still time to sow this in rows to get lots of cut-and-come-again leaves from small plants. If you want larger plants, and larger leaves, you need to sow in April.
Beetroot
Early varieties give the best results from autumn sowings and they do best in a greenhouse or polytunnel. Avoid F1 varieties, which can be less robust, and choose Boltardy or one of the other old favourites.
Chard
It’s a little late to sow chard, but it is worth a try and a mild winter can see plants flourish.
Onions and garlic
Buy bulbs of autumn planting varieties now. Avoid wet ground when planting outdoors and cover with a large, mesh cloche.
Peas and broad beans
These can be started in pots, or try sowing a double row straight in the ground. Choose broad bean ‘Aquadulce’ varieties.
You can also plant ‘First Early May’, ‘Douce Provence’, ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ or other autumn sowing pea varieties. Oregon Sugar Pod is a reliable mangetout pea for planting under cover in October. Cover rows with a cloche.
