Year round fresh veg?

 

I finally took the net off my cabbages, October 2024

I went up to the allotment after work on a rainy day last week and was not expecting to see my allotment neighbor (or anyone in fact);  we exchanged hellos and I expressed my surprise.  He remarked that he's there every afternoon (I'd been going in the morning) and hardly ever sees anyone now it's the end of October.

Where is everybody?  We can grow year round in our climate, and I certainly do.  It's true I'm not visiting the allotment every day any more, maybe twice a week, but I notice that many people have few or no winter crops growing.  Not like me!  At my allotment I have a bed each of turnips and radishes, two beds of beets, one of leeks, and one of purple sprouting broccoli (for spring harvest).  I also have a bed of garlic newly planted and not yet sprouted (for a summer harvest).

And at home I have Savoy cabbage, pak choi, radishes, komatsuna (another brassica), fennel, lettuce, and cauliflower (for spring harvest).

(Also at the allotment I'm still harvesting cherry and plum tomatoes;  I won't clear these away until a) they're done, or b) we have a frost.  If they go before mid-November I might get broad beans sown in their place.)

It takes planning to grow over winter however so I should really cut my fellow growers some slack.  Because I wrote out a plan for both garden and allotment early in spring, this is probably the most I've ever gotten in on time before;  seeds had to be sown in summer or even spring for some varieties.  It's not something I did much of when I only gardened at home (not enough space, also not enough experience), and I'm not growing to my full potential at the allotment either.  However, I'm learning and hopefully improving every year.  Along with my preserved summer harvest, I look forward to eating some fresh winter veg.