It is December - early summer! Why would you think about your winter garden at this point in time? It’s because some winter vegetables are best sown now. It’s also because starting on time will be a key to success!
Many Tasmanian food gardens are quite empty in winter. Those who are lucky enough to have the time and money take a holiday in warmer climes, and, let’s be honest, it can be less than comfortable to be out in the garden on a cold overcast frosty or rainy winter day.
However, in many parts of Tasmania the climate is warm enough to have a year-round supply of fresh vegetables. The key to get vegetables from your food garden in the middle of winter, is to plan and work for them between now, December, and May. If you do that, you will mostly your spend time in the garden this winter harvesting.
The important point about planning winter crops is to give seedlings time to use the heat and light of summer and early autumn so they can size-up, before cooler weather arrives, and growth slows right down.
Let’s start with a timeline, a summary of tasks, that can make your food garden productive this winter. That will be followed by hints on sowing, and comments on individual crops.
A timeline for a productive winter garden
If you feel that the list below looks too daunting, please realise that few people will do all of it. Just highlight what appeals to you, and focus on those crops. It will be very rewarding to harvest in mid-winter, and make your food garden year-round-productive.
The same points in multiple months indicate the time-period for the task.
November
Sow leeks in a punnet
Sow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swedes directly in your garden
Sow potatoes that you would like to harvest early winter
December
Sow leeks in a punnet
Sow Brussels Sprouts in pots or punnets
Sow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swedes directly in your garden
Plant in the garden seedlings that you sowed in pots or punnets in previous months
January
Sow leeks in a punnet
Sow brassicas (kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage) in pots or punnets
Sow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swedes directly in your garden
Plant in your garden brussels sprouts you sowed last month
Plant in the garden seedlings that you sowed in pots or punnets in previous months
February
Sow leeks in a punnet
Sow Asian brassicas, silverbeet, in pots or punnets
Sow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swedes directly in your garden
Plant in your garden brassicas you sowed last month
Plant in the garden seedlings that you sowed in pots or punnets in previous months
March
Sow leeks in a punnet
Sow Asian brassicas, silverbeet, in pots or punnets
Sow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swedes directly in your garden
Sow coriander directly in your garden or in a hothouse
Sow open-hearted lettuces and endive
Sow beetroot directly in your garden
Sow spring onions
Sow winter varieties of spinach directly in your garden (try crops a fortnight apart)
Plant garlic in your garden
Plant leek seedlings in your garden
Plant in the garden seedlings that you sowed in pots or punnets in previous months
Where there will be no other crop this winter sow green manure or put mulch
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| Asian Brassicas - a very ornamental winter crop |
Sow peas in your garden
Sow broadbeans in your garden
Sow coriander in your garden or in a hothouse
Sow winter varieties of spinach directly in your garden
Plant garlic in your garden
Plant onions in the garden
Plant in the garden seedlings that you sowed in pots or punnets in previous months
Where there will be no other crop this winter sow green manure or put mulch
May
Sow peas in your garden
Sow broadbeans in your garden
Where no other crop will grow this winter sow green manure or put mulch
This timeline is for a Tasmanian food garden that gets sun over winter, and no frost, or just a few minor frosts. You are, or will over time become, the expert on the micro-climate in your garden. Please do things earlier or later according to your local climate.
This list has quite a lot in it. Do you sow and plant for winter at different times? Please email foodgardengroup@gmail.com with your comments. I can then update this blog post, and we can learn from you.
Buying seedlings is a lot less work than sowing, but sowing can be fun, and it costs a lot less. Most nurseries only sell ‘new improved’ hybrid varieties. If you buy seed from good seed companies you can grow heirloom varieties that are simply never for sale as seedlings, that are often tastier, and from which you can collect seed, that you can use from there on.
Sowing your winter crops this summer
Sowing in summer can be a bit trickier than sowing at other times of the year. Here are some tips and hints:
Tip number one: as much as possible, sow in the more controlled environment of pots and punnets.
A good seed-raising mix very much improves the chances of seed germinating, and, keeping an eye on moisture levels of the soil is easier when you have pots and punnets. For more info about sowing in pots and punnets, including a recipe for seed-raising mix see:
https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/2015/10/sowing-in-punnets.html Some crops, however, should not be sown in pots or punnets. For more on this, see https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/2013/04/from-seed-to-crop-sowing-in-situ.html
Tip number two: sow in pots, rather than in punnets.
If germination is good, punnets become overcrowded much sooner than pots. I sow two seeds per pot, then remove the least promising seedling. You will be able to keep the remaining seedling much longer in that pot. That means that you can give your summer crops more time out in the garden, before pulling them out, to make way for the new seedlings.
There are crops for which punnets are fine. Leek seedlings, for instance, are incredibly strong, and will cope with overcrowding. However, for many seedlings, one or two per pot is the way to go.
Tip number three: for seeds sown out in the garden keep soil moist, but not wet, at all times.
I realise that this can be ‘easier said than done’ for people who work full time. In summer, however, it is important to irrigate newly sown seeds at least once a day early in the morning. On warm days irrigate newly sown areas late in the afternoon or early evening as well.
Tip number four: keep an eye on the weather forecast
Do not sow directly in the garden on a hot day. Cool, overcast drizzly days are the best days to sow directly in your garden. Is it going to be cool and cloudy this week? That’s a good sowing week!
Tip number five: cover your rows for the first seven days.
In summer radishes can show up above ground three days after sowing. For most seedlings, however, I can guarantee you that they will not appear above ground for at least seven days. Make use of this. Gently water your rows after sowing, and then cover them with mulch for that first week, or, easier even, cover each row with a plank. Remove the mulch or plank after a week, and you have given the seeds a good first week in the ground.
About some of the crops mentioned above
Brassicas
About brassicas Marg M wrote: The reason I sow my winter brassicas early, i.e. January, is to get good growth before the cold weather sets in. Broccoli I usually plant out in the garden from March to early April. I realise that a lot of people plant brassicas late because of the cabbage butterfly, but in my opinion, it is important to start early. I use exclusion for the butterflies in the beginning (I use wire waste paper baskets). When the plants are bigger, I spray with Dipel.
For more on combating the Cabbage Butterfly see: https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/search/label/brassicas Broadbeans
I don’t sow broadbeans before April. You don’t gain anything by doing so, because most broadbean crops are ready to pick in October/November, not any earlier, regardless of when sown. By sowing them later you allow previous crops to continue longer.
Brussels sprouts
Food Garden Group member Marg M sows this winter’s Brussels Sprouts in December. She told me if not started now, then the plants don’t develop a lovely crown before winter.
Russell H wrote in a post on this blog the following about Brussels Sprouts: Growing Brussels Sprouts is a long process - sow seeds in December, plant out in January, have a major war with cabbage moths for a few months, wait for cold weather and a few frosts and harvest in winter. (see https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/search/label/Brussels%20Sprouts )
Coriander
Somewhat surprisingly, coriander grows well in cool weather. It goes especially well in a cool greenhouse through winter.
Garlic
Plant in March – May for harvest in November – December. Garlic planted in May will be fine, but will end up smaller than garlic planted in March, because of the shorter growing period.
Lettuce
I found that ‘Iceberg-type’ lettuce varieties that form tight heads of crisp leaves are fine in summer, but grow tediously slow in winter. For me, open-hearted lettuce varieties are the ones to grow over winter.
Miners lettuce (see photo below) is worth mentioning, because this plant (Claytonia perfoliata or ‘winter purslane’ - not a member of the lettuce family) is a great, easy to grow, alternative to lettuce. It grows well over winter. It self-sows in our garden, but is easily removed where you don’t want it.
Peas are a spring crop. For a number of years I sowed a short line of peas in January, just to see what would happen, and found that, if mildew does not immediately invade, crops are small at that time of year. I sow peas early (April – May), so, when spring rains arrive in September, the plants are very well established, and are not overwhelmed by the first slug and snail invasion of the season. For more info about growing peas go here: https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/2015/03/easy-peasy.html
Spinach
English Spinach likes to grow in cool weather. In April you could begin to sow winter varieties of spinach directly in your garden. To have a continuous supply you could sow a short row every fortnight.
Some final thoughts
Seaweed extract, fish emulsion and other liquid fertilisers will be much appreciated by vegetables that are growing in colder conditions.
Food gardeners used to remove mulch at the end of autumn because the thinking was that soil warms up at a slower rate in spring if it is covered with mulch. However, in these days of climate change there are too many warmish winter days to stick by this practice. My advice is to always have soil covered with mulch, or alternatively, a green manure. Both subjects are covered on this blog:
Mulching see https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/2017/02/mulching-why-and-how.html
Green manure see https://foodgardengroup.blogspot.com/2018/09/why-green-manure.html
I actually spend a lot of time in my food garden in winter. Because little time is taken up by watering, sowing, and planting, there is more time for projects, such as a new garden bed, pathway or irrigation line. Also, I find winter the most rewarding time to get rid of weeds. When you take them out, they are slow to return, and the garden is weed-free for much longer.
Have a great summer, and may your winter crops be plentiful!
A very helpful article, thank you very much.
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