The summer beds are still cropping, but a second round of seed goes in behind them: sprouting broccoli and Chinese cabbage, turnip, leek and corn salad. Sow by late summer or early autumn, tuck the rows under straw or dry ferns, and you will still be cutting from the patch through most of winter.
→ Read also: winter for permaculture veggies
The summer beds are still cropping, but each of these vegetables has its own sowing window and its own way of sitting out the cold. Use the table to see at a glance what still has time to go in.
| Vegetable | Sow by | Plant out or thin | Winter treatment and harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprouting broccoli | Midsummer | As soon as the first two leaves appear, up to late summer | Transplanted crop for the cold months |
| Headed cabbage and kohlrabi | — | Headed cabbage in midsummer, kohlrabi until late summer | Planted stock to stand through the cold season |
| Cauliflower | All summer long | Planted through summer | Gives spring produce |
| Chinese cabbage | Late summer | Left in place to grow on | Lasts through most of winter |
| Snap beans and French beans | Late summer | Sown in place | Pulled out from early autumn, depending on location and weather |
| Turnip | Late summer | Thin when sprouts bear two true leaves | ‘Blanc dur d’hiver’ keeps in the ground under leaves or dry ferns |
| Leek | Late summer | Planted in early autumn, seedlings as thick as a pencil | Harvested in mid-spring and late spring |
| Corn salad | Early autumn | In rows or broadcast on firm, unspaded soil | Covered with straw or dry ferns for winter cutting |
Sown in this order, the patch hands over from one crop to the next without a gap.
If you like eating cabbage, you can sow and transplant different varieties all summer long.
Sprouting broccoli can be sown until midsummer. You’ll transplant them as soon as the first two leaves appear until late summer.
You can plant headed cabbage in midsummer, kohlrabi until late summer and cauliflower all summer long to ensure spring produce.
If you appreciate Chinese cabbage, sow them until late summer and let them grow. They will last you through most of winter.
Feel free to sow snap beans and French beans until late summer. You can start pulling them out at the beginning of fall depending on your location and weather.
Sow turnip until late summer. Thin when sprouts bear two true leaves. The ‘Blanc dur d’hiver’ variety keeps directly in the ground, under a cover of leaves or dry ferns.
To have leek in spring (mid-spring and late spring), sow in late summer and plant in early autumn. Pull the seedlings out when they’re as thick as a pencil. Snip the tip of the leaves off, and before transplanting them, let them dry off for two days on the ground, to harden them and protect them against allium leaf-mining flies.
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Sow corn salad until early autumn. Sow it in rows or broadcast on firm soil, that isn’t spaded (at most, raked), and plant together with cabbage and leek.
Cover the seeds with a thin layer of dry grass, to keep the soil moist.
Protect corn salad meant to be harvested in winter with a thin layer of straw or dry ferns.
Harvest ‘A Grosse Graine’ corn salad by cutting it just above the collar, and smaller rosettes will reappear afterwards.
