Seeding time - Preparing for winter

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Zasso Nouka
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Seeding time - Preparing for winter

Post by Zasso Nouka »

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So with summer receding into the distance and autumn getting going it's now time to get those veggies that will go through the winter in the ground. It's too late for most cabbage/kale/broccoli crops unless you live in a very warm climate and it will soon become a race against time to get most crops large enough to coast through the Persephone months (day length less than 10 hours) when many vegetables dramatically slow down their growth.

So right now you can plant
Garlic
All manner of leafy salad crops
Spinach
Most types of peas, providing your winters are not harsh or they are in a poly tunnel
Chinese Broccoli
Mini cauliflower, this one is a bit of a stretch and will depend on your expected first frost date but if you have 60 days to spare go for it
Leafy chicory/endives like raddichio
Chinese greens like chingen sai, komatsuna, etc, etc
Turnips
Carrots, a bit late but with the lower temps and regular rains it's easier to get them started at this time rather than in august
Kohl Rabi, again a bit late but you could still get them to harvest with late frost dates or a bit of protection towards the end
Daikon, this week and next are good times to plant

Onions can be seeded around this time for transplanting at the end of October. The exact timing is quite critical for each area to stop them all bolting (flowering) in the spring. Here in Chiba it's next week so adjust the timing for your area or ask your local taneyasan for advice, they will know when the local onion farmers are seeding and transplanting. If your local taneyasan has a good supplier then you can wait till october and buy bunches of onion slips to transplant then.

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Re: Seeding time - Preparing for winter

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Forget to mention

Hakusai, if you get the 60 day or mini hakusai then they should still be fine
Beetroot is still probably ok but may be smaller than spring planted beets
Swiss chard, if you like it, makes a colourful addition to winter meals
Coriander will grow well through the winter without flowering but may need some protection if you get heavy frosts
Wasabina copes with the winter well and gets spicier as the nights get colder
Karashina is also good now

This is also my favourite time of the year to order up seed catalogues and decide what to grow next year and re-read The New Organic Grower and The Market Gardener and assess what techniques worked this year and what can be done differently next year.

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Re: Seeding time - Preparing for winter

Post by gonbechan »

how about if one is using a polytunnel? Does that effect what you can plant now?

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Re: Seeding time - Preparing for winter

Post by Zasso Nouka »

You can use the poly tunnel to push the growing season a bit but your main barrier now is the onset of the Persephone months when day length drops below 10 hours and growth slows dramatically. Some vegetables like salad and lettuce crops seem to be affected by this less than others but most things will slow their growth down once it has begun.

If your area experiences severely cold winters then you can always double or triple tunnel with a tunnel inside a poly tunnel and further layer up as the weather gets colder or do the same thing outside with the low tunnels.

At this time of year it's actually better to direct seed outside in the crop's final location as plants get a much better start when not transplanted.

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Re: Seeding time - Preparing for winter

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Time is running out to seed many crops but there are still a few that will grow sufficiently before the Persephone months (Thank you Eric) start or that aren't that affected by the shorter days

Lettuce seems largely unaffacted, although growth will slow down somewhat
Mizuna
Arugula
Komatsuna
Spinach
Chingen sai
Garlic
Turnip

And it will soon be time to transplant young onion slips

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