Terry Walton is planning for autumn and winter!
Spring’s here so I’m planning the autumn and winter harvests!
What a beautiful, spring-like few days we’ve recently experienced on the Welsh hillsides. What’s noticeable on these bright days is the even split between hours of daylight and darkness. This is a signal to plant life it’s time to reawaken and prepare for the fruitful days that lie ahead.
With spring breaking out it’s time on my allotments to plan the autumn and winter harvests. The first of my autumn crops to be sown are leeks. I’m sowing two varieties this year – the old favourite ‘Musselburgh’ and a new one for me called ‘Toledo’. The first is a good autumn and winter harvester, which produces thick shanks and keeps going whatever is thrown at it. The latter is a late-season cropper with long shanks and is resistant to bolting. These are sown in half seed trays of good compost, lightly covered with sieved compost and kept in a greenhouse that’s about 13C (55F). They’ll be transplanted at the seedling stage into full-sized seed trays.
With one winter crop underway it’s time to turn to another longcropping winter favourite – the sprout.
The one I grow from seed is disease-resistant ‘Crispus’, which is helpful in my club root-affected allotment. These will produce a long harvest period throughout the winter and hold firm sprouts on the stems. They’re sown in a half seed tray of good compost and covered with 1.5cm (½in) of compost. At the true leaf stage they’re transplanted into 12.5cm (5in) pots to make large plants before planting out. I also grow a variety called ‘Icarus’, which last all winter but aren’t available, as far as I’m aware, in seed form. I buy them from a garden centre which has access to the variety ‘Icarus improved’.
To complete my trio of winter sowings, it’s the sprouting broccoli’s turn. I grow purple sprouting ‘Rudolph’, which, when sown now, will produce an autumn harvest. These can also be sown later for crops in January and February. Pop seeds in a half seed tray of compost and cover with 1.5cm (½in) of compost. At the seed leaf stage, transplant into 10cm (4in) pots to grow on into strong plants.
With some plants nearing the hardening off stage, it’s also time to get my cold frame in shape, clear all the pots gathered there and give it a wash to kill off any pests and diseases.