#5 What to grow in winter
As the seasons change and the weather gets colder, many people stop growing veg, but there are lots of tasty and easy to grow veggies that you can grow in a raised bed in the colder months. Certain varieties of lettuce such as ‘Winter Density’ and ‘Arctic King’ will happily grow outside through frost and snow as long as you give them a bit of cover from hungry pigeons; plants may seem a little delicate, but they are actually pretty hardy and will be ready to crop in the new year.
One of my favourite things to grow throughout the winter is mixed mustard leaves. These slightly spicy leaves are great to add to soups, stews and stir-fry, as well as salads throughout the colder months and are happy to grow outside uncovered as they won’t be nibbled by pigeons. Sowing in autumn allows them to slowly grow throughout winter, meaning you can pick as many leaves as you need for a meal without having to harvest the whole plant; the perfect cut-and-come-again winter veggie!
If you wanted to get a head start in the veg garden, why not plant a few onion, garlic or shallot sets in your raised bed? These small, immature bulbs will grow throughout the winter, producing lush green leaves which enable the plants to grow away in spring once the weather warms up, meaning you’ll be harvesting your bulbs in early summer, well ahead of spring planted varieties.
Best veg to grow in winter
- Lettuce varieties ‘Winter Density’ and ‘Arctic King’
- Mixed mustard leaves
- Onion
- Garlic
- Shallot