Vegetables to plant this autumn

Garlic

Plant bulbs 2.5cm down into compostimproved, welldraining soil in full sun. Cover with fleece or chicken wire to prevent birds pulling them up. TRY Elephant garlic or ‘Provence Wight’.

Winter salads

Pots of winter salads will just keep on coming sown now. Sow thinly in any container filled with multi-purpose compost, at six-weekly intervals. Keep moist. TRY Lettuce ‘Winter Gem’, beetroot for baby leaves or mizuna.

Asparagus

Plant in very welldrained, manured soil. Dig a 20cm trench with a mound at the centre, and plant each crown on top of the mound, 50cm apart.

TRY ‘Mondeo’ or ‘Majestic’ are suitable for autumn planting.

Perpetual spinach

A hardy cut-and-come-again crop for winter, you can sow it now sparingly for longterm use into next year. Keep harvesting for fresh young leaves.

TRY Stagger sowings every week or so for the next month for larger yields.

Broad beans

Autumn sowings give you a head start and an earlier crop. Sow in rows 5cm deep and 15cm apart and weed regularly, staking as necessary. TRY ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ is a hardy variety, as is ‘Luz de Otono’.

Spring onions

Sow thinly 1cm deep and keep the soil moist. Harvest little and often when slender, pencil-thin plants come through. This way, there’s no need to thin out.

TRY Red variety ‘Lilia’ or popular white variety ‘White Lisbon’.