Tag: Grow Your Own

There comes a moment in the vegetable garden when you realise that summer is beginning to loosen its grip.

The mornings are cooler. Dew sits heavily on leaves and cobwebs. Shadows stretch further across the beds, and by evening there is sometimes just enough chill in the air to make you reach for another layer.

Yet the garden is far from finished.

Runner beans may still be dangling from their supports, courgettes continue to appear beneath enormous leaves and tomatoes are making the most of every warm afternoon. Elsewhere, leeks are thickening, kale is settling into its stride and squashes are quietly ripening beneath fading foliage.

Autumn is arriving, but that doesn’t mean the productive vegetable garden has to close its doors.

With a little care, some timely harvesting and a few well-chosen sowings, you can keep your vegetable garden productive well into autumn — and in some cases, throughout winter.

The trick is not to try to hold on to summer.

It is to grow with the season that comes next.

Don’t clear the vegetable garden too quickly

September and October can bring on a sudden urge to tidy.

A yellowing leaf is spotted and before long the secateurs are out, plants are being pulled up and the vegetable patch is heading rapidly towards bare soil.

There is certainly plenty to clear in autumn, but there is no need to do it all at once.

Healthy plants that are still producing deserve to stay.

Runner beans, French beans, courgettes, chard and late tomatoes can all remain productive while conditions are favourable. Even a plant that looks a little tired may have another week’s worth of food left to give.

Harvest regularly and remove individual leaves that are yellowing, damaged or diseased rather than automatically clearing the whole plant.

Think of the autumn vegetable garden as a gradual changing of the guard.

Summer crops leave one by one, creating spaces for the plants that will carry the garden into its next season.

Keep picking to keep plants producing

One of the simplest ways to extend your vegetable harvest is also one of the most enjoyable:

Keep picking.

Runner beans and courgettes are particularly responsive to regular harvesting. Leave fruits to become large and mature and the plant begins putting its energy into producing seed. Pick them young and it has a reason to continue.

The same principle applies to many leafy vegetables.

Harvest the outer leaves of chard, spinach and kale while leaving the growing point intact. Rather than taking the whole plant, you can return repeatedly for smaller harvests.

Little and often is the rhythm of the autumn kitchen garden.

A handful of chard might go into tonight’s supper. A few beans can be added to tomorrow’s curry. Some spinach can disappear into an omelette.

The harvest basket may not be quite as overflowing as it was in August, but that doesn’t make these smaller pickings any less valuable.

Make use of every empty space

As summer crops finish, gaps begin appearing.

The place where potatoes grew is suddenly empty. Peas have long since disappeared. An exhausted courgette plant eventually reaches the compost heap.

Don’t think of these spaces as the end of the season.

Think of them as an opportunity.

September and early autumn can still be a useful time to sow spinach, rocket, winter lettuce, mizuna, mustard leaves, radishes and other quick or hardy crops, depending on your local conditions and the variety.

The soil retains some of its summer warmth, which can help seeds germinate quickly, while cooler weather suits many leafy crops.

Small sowings are often better than large ones.

A short row of spinach and a container of rocket may be considerably more useful than sowing an entire packet and discovering that everything is ready at once.

As daylight diminishes, growth will become slower, so earlier autumn sowings generally have an advantage.

Grow salads beyond summer

Salad has somehow acquired a reputation as summer food.

The vegetable garden knows otherwise.

Rocket, winter lettuce, mizuna, mustard leaves and spinach can all contribute fresh leaves as autumn progresses. Some will continue for surprisingly long periods when given protection.

These aren’t necessarily the large, soft lettuces of midsummer.

Autumn salads have more character.

There are peppery leaves, deep greens and crisp textures that sit happily alongside roasted beetroot, warm potatoes, toasted nuts, apples and other autumn ingredients.

If you have a greenhouse or cold frame, dedicate a little space to winter leaves once summer crops have finished.

A greenhouse that spent August overflowing with tomatoes can have an entirely different life in October.

Give autumn vegetables more light

By midsummer, shade can be a blessing.

By autumn, light becomes precious.

The sun sits lower in the sky and each day becomes shorter. Crops that tolerated a little shade in June may struggle there in October.

Look at your vegetable garden with autumn eyes.

Large, fading leaves can cast unnecessary shade over smaller crops. Remove old courgette or squash leaves where they are no longer helping the plant, particularly if they are damaged or affected by mildew.

Tie in sprawling growth where appropriate and keep weeds under control.

Containers of leafy vegetables can also be moved into brighter positions.

You cannot make autumn days longer, but you can help plants make better use of the light that remains.

Protect crops from colder nights

Eventually, autumn will remind us why it is autumn.

Night-time temperatures fall, winds strengthen and the first frost begins to appear in forecasts.

A small amount of protection can make a considerable difference.

Cloches can shelter rows of salads and young seedlings. A cold frame provides a useful halfway house between the garden and greenhouse. Horticultural fleece can offer temporary protection when colder nights threaten.

An unheated greenhouse is particularly valuable.

It won’t recreate summer, nor should it. What it can do is protect crops from cold winds, persistent rain and some of the harsher fluctuations in temperature.

That modest difference may be enough to give you several more weeks of useful growth.

Just remember to ventilate protected spaces on mild days. Damp, stagnant air creates problems of its own.

Keep an eye on slugs and snails

Cooler, damper weather can be very welcome after a dry summer.

Unfortunately, the slugs may agree.

Tender autumn seedlings and young salad leaves can disappear remarkably quickly, so check crops regularly.

Look beneath containers, boards and dense foliage where slugs and snails may shelter during the day.

Keeping the area around young crops reasonably clear can also make it easier to spot trouble.

There is little point carefully extending your growing season if the local molluscs are enjoying the harvest before you do.

Don’t forget to water

Autumn rain can create the impression that watering is no longer necessary.

Sometimes it is.

Sometimes it isn’t.

A dry September can leave newly sown seeds and young plants struggling, particularly in containers where compost dries much faster than garden soil.

Check rather than assume.

Push a finger into the soil or compost and see how it feels below the surface. Water when needed, preferably in the morning so that foliage and the surrounding ground are not sitting unnecessarily wet through cold nights.

Protected crops need particular attention.

Rain cannot reach the soil beneath a greenhouse roof or closed cold frame, however wet the rest of the garden might be.

Feed the crops that still need it

As summer fades, there is little value in feeding everything indiscriminately.

Many crops are coming naturally towards the end of their lives.

Others are still working.

Tomatoes carrying fruit, for example, may continue to benefit from appropriate feeding while they are actively growing and ripening. Container-grown vegetables are also more dependent on us because their roots cannot travel beyond the pot in search of nutrients.

For many established autumn and winter crops, however, the aim isn’t to encourage a sudden flush of soft growth as cold weather approaches.

Observe the plant rather than feeding simply because it is Saturday.

Autumn gardening rewards attention more than routine.

Look after your soil as crops finish

A productive vegetable garden isn’t only about what is growing above the ground.

Autumn is an important time to think about the soil beneath it.

Once a crop has finished, remove diseased material and troublesome perennial weeds. Healthy plant material can usually be composted, returning its goodness to the garden.

Bare beds can be covered with well-rotted compost or organic matter, depending on how you manage your soil.

You might also consider green manure for suitable empty ground. These crops are grown not primarily for eating but to cover and improve the soil.

Whatever method you choose, avoid leaving good garden soil forgotten simply because there isn’t currently a vegetable growing in it.

Today’s empty bed is next spring’s seedbed.

Plant garlic and overwintering onions

Some of autumn’s most productive gardening involves planting something you won’t harvest for months.

Garlic is a wonderful example.

Individual cloves disappear beneath the soil just as much of the garden is winding down. For weeks there may seem to be very little happening.

Yet roots are establishing beneath the surface.

Autumn-planted garlic has a long season ahead of it, and many varieties benefit from exposure to a period of cold weather.

Overwintering onion sets can also be planted in autumn where the variety and conditions are suitable.

There is a particular satisfaction in planting these crops.

At a time when leaves are falling and the garden appears to be retreating, you are already putting next year’s harvest into the ground.

Make your greenhouse earn its keep

If you’re fortunate enough to have a greenhouse, don’t lock the door after the tomatoes finish.

Clean away old plant material and give the space another purpose.

Pots and trays of winter lettuce, spinach, rocket and other hardy leaves can turn an autumn greenhouse into a remarkably useful extension of the kitchen garden.

It is also a good place to keep tender herbs going for longer.

An unheated greenhouse will still become cold in winter, so choose crops accordingly. Its great advantage isn’t tropical warmth but shelter.

Protection from heavy rain, wind and the worst of the weather can make all the difference to a hardy plant.

And there are few nicer gardening moments than opening a greenhouse door on a grey autumn morning and finding rows of fresh green leaves waiting inside.

Use containers to chase the autumn sun

Containers come into their own as the seasons change.

A vegetable growing in the ground stays where it was planted.

A pot doesn’t have to.

As the sun drops lower, move containers into the brightest available position. A sheltered south-facing wall can create a useful little microclimate, holding warmth and offering protection from cold winds.

Pots of parsley, coriander, rocket and spinach can be brought closer to the house or moved beneath cover.

This has another advantage.

When herbs and salads are three steps from the kitchen door rather than at the bottom of a dark, wet garden, you are much more likely to harvest them.

Sometimes productivity is as much about convenience as horticulture.

Harvest tomatoes before the cold gets them

Tomatoes can continue ripening into early autumn when the weather is kind.

But eventually there comes a point when waiting for another sunny week becomes optimistic.

Keep an eye on the forecast.

As temperatures fall and plants begin deteriorating, harvest the remaining tomatoes rather than allowing good fruit to be lost.

Green tomatoes needn’t be wasted.

Some will ripen indoors, while others can be turned into chutneys, relishes and other preserves.

This is part of the rhythm of productive autumn gardening: knowing when to keep going and when to bring the harvest safely inside.

Cure and store your harvest properly

Keeping the vegetable garden productive doesn’t only mean keeping plants alive outdoors.

The harvest can continue feeding you long after it has left the soil.

Onions, garlic, potatoes and winter squash can all store for useful periods when harvested and prepared correctly.

Squashes, for example, should be allowed to mature fully and develop firm skins before storage. Onions and garlic need appropriate drying and curing.

Store crops in conditions suited to them and check them regularly.

One damaged onion or squash can deteriorate surprisingly quickly, so remove anything beginning to spoil.

There is something deeply satisfying about stepping into a cool store in November and choosing an onion or squash that you grew months earlier.

The garden is still feeding you.

It has simply moved indoors.

Grow vegetables that actually enjoy autumn

One reason gardeners sometimes struggle to extend the season is that we try to persuade summer vegetables to survive indefinitely.

There is an easier way.

Grow plants that don’t mind the cold.

Leeks, kale, chard and other hardy crops can become some of the great stalwarts of the autumn and winter vegetable garden.

They won’t all grow vigorously throughout the darkest months. Growth slows considerably as light levels fall.

But established plants can stand in the ground ready to be harvested.

That changes the character of the vegetable patch.

Instead of trying to produce everything quickly, you begin creating a living winter store.

A row of leeks waiting beneath a cold sky is every bit as valuable as a glut of courgettes in July — perhaps more so when supper needs making on a wet November evening.

Keep harvesting herbs

The herb garden can remain useful well into autumn.

Parsley may continue producing fresh leaves, while hardy perennial herbs such as rosemary, thyme and sage can be picked through much of the year.

Tender herbs need more care.

Basil will quickly object to cold conditions, so harvest generously before temperatures fall too far. Coriander, on the other hand, often appreciates the cooler conditions of early autumn.

This is also a good time to preserve surplus herbs.

They can be dried, frozen or turned into herb butters and sauces, depending on the variety.

A productive garden doesn’t have to mean eating everything on the day it is picked.

Sometimes the most useful harvest is the one tucked away for later.

Start composting next year’s harvest

Autumn provides an abundance of compostable material.

Finished vegetable plants, annual weeds that haven’t set troublesome seed, fallen leaves and kitchen peelings can all contribute to the compost heap.

Mix softer green material with drier brown material rather than creating thick layers of one ingredient.

Then give it time.

Composting has none of the immediate excitement of picking tomatoes or pulling carrots, but it is one of the quiet engines of a productive garden.

The remains of this year’s crops gradually become the material that feeds next year’s soil.

Nothing illustrates the circular nature of gardening quite so neatly.

Make notes while the season is still fresh in your mind

Autumn is also a useful time to stop and look back.

Which tomato variety actually tasted best?

Did you grow far too many courgettes?

Were the beans planted too close together?

Which bed dried out fastest?

What did the slugs eat before you managed to?

Write it down.

By January, memories of the summer vegetable garden tend to become suspiciously rosy. We remember baskets of tomatoes and conveniently forget the six weeks spent battling aphids.

A few notes made now can transform next year’s garden.

Productivity isn’t always about squeezing another crop into the ground.

Sometimes it comes from learning what your particular patch of earth is trying to tell you.

What can you grow in an autumn vegetable garden?

If you’re planning a productive autumn vegetable garden in the UK, consider a mixture of crops that can be harvested now, sown for quick leaves or established for later.

Depending on the month, variety and conditions, your autumn garden might include:

• spinach
• rocket
• winter lettuce
• mizuna and mustard leaves
• radishes
• spring onions
• chard
• kale
• leeks
• parsley
• coriander
• garlic
• overwintering onions

What works best will depend enormously on where you garden.

Autumn arrives differently in a sheltered southern garden than it does on an exposed northern allotment. Even two gardens in the same village can have quite different frost pockets, wind exposure and levels of sunlight.

Learn the small climate of your own garden.

It is one of the most useful things a gardener can do.

Let the garden change with the season

Perhaps the secret to keeping a vegetable garden productive into autumn is to stop expecting it to look like summer.

It will become quieter.

There will be fewer flowers humming with bees. The towering bean plants will eventually come down. The courgettes will stop and the tomato plants will finally be cleared away.

But quieter doesn’t mean empty.

There can be spinach beneath a cloche, leeks standing in neat rows and parsley beside the kitchen door. Garlic can be putting down roots beneath seemingly bare soil while a pumpkin harvested weeks earlier waits patiently in the pantry.

And on a bright autumn morning, when the grass is wet and the air has that unmistakable October coolness, there might still be a basket to carry into the garden.

It may come back with only a leek, a handful of leaves and a sprig or two of herbs.

But that is enough.

The vegetable garden is still doing what it has done all summer.

It is feeding you.

Only now, it is doing so at autumn’s slower pace.

Further Reading: Wonderful Ways to Use Fresh Garden Peas, Grow Your Own Food: Save Money & Eat Well

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September has a habit of feeling like an ending.

There is a coolness to the mornings that wasn’t there a few weeks ago. Cobwebs begin to show themselves in the hedges, picked out with beads of dew, and the evenings seem to arrive a little sooner each day. In the vegetable garden, beans are still being gathered, courgettes continue to appear beneath their leaves and tomatoes make the most of the remaining warmth.

Yet, among all this harvesting, September is also a month for sowing.

The seed packets may have been pushed towards the back of the shed and the propagator put away months ago, but there is still time to begin another round of crops. In fact, the combination of soil warmed by summer and cooler, damper weather can make early autumn a particularly pleasant time to sow.

Choose the right vegetables, salads and herbs now and your garden can continue giving long after the last of the summer tomatoes has been picked.

So, before you tidy away the seed box for another year, let’s see what you can sow in September in the UK.

Is September too late to sow vegetables?

Not at all.

September sits between two seasons in the kitchen garden. Summer crops are reaching their generous peak just as autumn begins to make itself known.

That makes it one of the most abundant times of year in a British vegetable garden. Tomatoes, courgettes, beans and salads can still be producing while apples, pears, squash and leeks begin to take us towards autumn.

But the shortening days do change the way we sow.

At this time of year, it is worth concentrating on quick-growing leaves and roots, hardy salads and crops capable of coping with colder weather.

Some September sowings will give you something to eat within weeks. Others will establish quietly before winter and reward you later.

The important thing is not to expect September seeds to behave like seeds sown in May. There is less daylight ahead of them and temperatures will gradually fall, so growth becomes slower as autumn progresses.

For that reason, an early September sowing can have quite an advantage over one made at the very end of the month.

Spinach

If there is one vegetable that seems made for the gentler days of early autumn, it is spinach.

The fierce heat that can send spinach racing to seed during summer has passed, and the cooler conditions suit its leafy growth rather well.

Sow into moist, well-prepared soil, either in rows in the vegetable patch or in containers. If you have a greenhouse, cold frame or cloche, it is also worth making a protected sowing that can continue producing as the weather deteriorates.

Don’t be in too much of a hurry to take whole plants.

Pick a few outer leaves at a time and leave the centre to continue growing. A handful of young spinach leaves is useful for far more than salad: wilt them into pasta, add them to curries and soups, tuck them into an omelette or stir them through a pan of potatoes.

It is one of those crops that earns its space surprisingly quickly.

September sowing tip: choose varieties described as suitable for autumn or winter growing, particularly if you hope to overwinter the plants.

Rocket

After struggling through hot spells in summer, rocket often seems altogether happier as temperatures begin to fall.

Seeds germinate readily, the plants need very little room and you can begin picking the peppery young leaves remarkably quickly.

Sow a short row rather than emptying the packet all at once. A second small sowing a couple of weeks later can help extend the harvest.

Rocket also grows beautifully in pots, making it a particularly good choice if your growing space consists of a patio, balcony or doorstep rather than a large vegetable plot.

Harvest the younger leaves for salads, sandwiches and homemade pizzas. Larger leaves have a stronger flavour and are good stirred through pasta or wilted very briefly in a hot pan.

A pot of rocket close to the kitchen door is one of autumn’s small luxuries.

Winter lettuce

We tend to think of lettuce as belonging to long summer lunches, but the salad bowl needn’t disappear simply because autumn has arrived.

September is a useful month for sowing winter lettuces and hardy salad varieties.

These are quite different from the large, soft lettuces associated with summer. Choose varieties specifically intended for autumn and winter cultivation, and give them some shelter as conditions become colder.

A cold frame or unheated greenhouse is ideal, although cloches can make a considerable difference outdoors.

The growth will naturally slow as the days shorten, but that is no reason to abandon them. A few crisp leaves picked from the garden on a chilly day can feel every bit as satisfying as a basketful of summer produce.

Mizuna and oriental salad leaves

If your experience of home-grown salad begins and ends with lettuce, September is an excellent month to broaden the repertoire.

Mizuna is particularly useful. Its finely divided leaves have a fresh, slightly peppery flavour and can be harvested young for salads or allowed to grow larger for cooking.

You can also look for mixtures containing mustard leaves and other hardy oriental greens.

These crops make excellent use of the little spaces appearing around the vegetable garden as summer plants are cleared away.

Sow them in short rows or containers and harvest young leaves little and often.

A mixture of green and purple leaves can be beautiful as well as useful — a reminder that the productive garden need never be purely practical.

Radishes

Few vegetables provide gratification quite as quickly as a radish.

Their speed makes them particularly valuable as summer begins to slip away.

September sowings can provide crisp roots for autumn salads, and there are also winter radishes intended for later harvesting.

Sow thinly into moist soil and keep an eye on watering if September turns unexpectedly dry. Radishes grown steadily tend to be much more pleasant than those left to struggle in parched ground.

And don’t overlook the leaves. Young, healthy radish tops are edible too and can be added to soups, pesto and other cooked dishes.

This is also a good crop for children or new gardeners. There is something wonderfully encouraging about pulling a bright radish from what appeared to be an empty patch of soil only a few weeks earlier.

Spring onions

Spring onions are another useful crop to sow as summer gives way to autumn.

They occupy little ground and work well tucked into gaps between other vegetables or grown in containers.

Hardy varieties can be sown in September to establish before colder weather arrives, with the prospect of an earlier crop later on.

Sow the seed thinly in shallow drills and keep the soil moist while it germinates.

Their neat habit makes spring onions especially useful in a small vegetable garden, where every patch has to justify itself.

Turnips for young roots and leaves

Turnips deserve rather more affection than they generally receive.

Sown in September, they can be harvested young rather than left to become the enormous roots that may spring to mind when their name is mentioned.

Young turnips are sweeter and more delicate, and their leaves can also be cooked as greens.

They appreciate fertile, moisture-retentive soil and are another crop where quick, steady growth is preferable.

Harvest them small and try roasting the roots whole or adding them to an autumn tray of vegetables.

Mustard leaves

Mustard leaves bring a little heat to the autumn vegetable patch.

Sow them for young leaves rather than attempting to produce enormous plants. Their peppery flavour works particularly well mixed with milder lettuce and spinach.

Like many leafy crops, they can be grown in containers as easily as in the ground.

If you have only a few pots available, try sowing several complementary salad leaves together. A container filled with rocket, mizuna and mustard can provide repeated handfuls for the kitchen without needing a traditional vegetable bed at all.

Coriander

Coriander has a reputation for being troublesome, but sometimes the problem is simply that we insist on growing it when it would rather not be grown.

During hot weather it can rush into flower with frustrating speed. The cooler conditions of late summer and early autumn can therefore make September a useful time for another sowing.

Choose a sheltered position and sow little and often.

As light levels fall, a pot in a greenhouse or on a bright windowsill can help prolong the season.

Pick the leaves for curries, soups, chutneys and salads, and if a plant does eventually run to seed, don’t consider it a failure. The seeds are useful in the kitchen too.

Parsley

Parsley is patient.

It can take its time to germinate, which makes it less immediately gratifying than rocket or radish, but it is worth having around.

A September sowing can be made in pots and kept somewhere sheltered, particularly if you have a greenhouse or a bright indoor spot available.

Both flat-leaved and curly parsley are useful, although they bring slightly different characters to the kitchen. Snip leaves into soups, sauces and stews, scatter them over roasted vegetables or chop them with garlic and lemon zest for a simple finishing mixture.

A pot close to the kitchen is far more likely to be used than one hidden at the far end of the garden.

What about garlic and onions?

September isn’t only about sowing seed.

As autumn arrives, attention also turns towards overwintering onion sets and garlic. These are planted rather than sown in the usual sense, but they deserve a place in the September kitchen garden.

Where suitable for the variety and your local conditions, onion sets planted in autumn establish roots before winter and begin growing again as conditions improve.

Garlic similarly benefits from a long growing season, although planting times vary by variety and location.

Think of these crops as an investment in next year’s kitchen.

There is something deeply reassuring about putting a garlic clove into cool autumn soil knowing that, beneath the apparently quiet surface of the garden, next year’s harvest has already begun.

Where should you sow in September?

By September, the vegetable garden can look rather full.

Runner beans are still climbing their supports, courgette plants seem determined to occupy half the plot and tomatoes may still be ripening. But look more closely and spaces begin to appear.

A row of early potatoes has gone. Peas have finished. A tired lettuce has been removed. Perhaps a container that held summer salad is suddenly empty.

These small spaces are valuable.

Rather than thinking you need an entirely new bed for autumn sowing, use the gaps left behind by earlier crops.

Salad leaves, spinach, radishes and spring onions are particularly good for this.

Containers are equally useful. A large pot emptied of a summer crop can be refreshed with peat-free compost and put straight back to work.

If you have a greenhouse, September is also the time to begin thinking of it differently. Instead of being simply a home for tomatoes and cucumbers, it can become a sheltered winter larder filled with pots and rows of hardy leaves.

Preparing the soil for September sowing

September sowing doesn’t require elaborate preparation.

Clear away the remains of the previous crop and remove troublesome weeds. Gently loosen the surface if it has become compacted and add some well-rotted garden compost where the soil needs improving.

Avoid overfeeding leafy crops. Rich, heavily fertilised ground isn’t necessary for a quick row of rocket or radishes.

What matters more is creating a fine surface in which small seeds can establish and making sure the soil doesn’t dry out during germination.

Although autumn may be approaching, September can still produce warm, dry spells. Newly sown seed has only shallow access to moisture, so check the soil regularly.

Don’t sow everything at once

There is an understandable temptation at this time of year to sow generously.

Winter is coming, after all.

But a whole packet of rocket germinating simultaneously isn’t necessarily more useful than a short row.

For quick-growing salads, small and regular sowings are usually more practical. Sow enough for the next few weeks, then make another little row.

This succession sowing can provide a steadier supply and reduce waste.

As autumn progresses, however, remember that each later sowing will grow more slowly than the last. The calendar might suggest only a fortnight has passed, but the plants notice the diminishing daylight.

Give late sowings some protection

A September seedling has a different life ahead of it from one germinating in May.

Cold nights, heavy rain, wind, slugs and eventually frost can all make an appearance.

A little protection can therefore go a long way.

Cloches, cold frames and an unheated greenhouse can extend the growing season considerably. Even moving containers into a more sheltered position can help.

Protection doesn’t necessarily mean warmth. Often, simply keeping young leaves away from persistent rain, cold winds and the worst of the frost is enough.

Keep checking protected crops for slugs and snails, too. Tender young leaves can be particularly tempting when other food becomes scarce.

What can I sow in September in pots?

Quite a lot.

You don’t need an allotment — or even a vegetable patch — to continue sowing in September.

Try containers of:

• rocket
• spinach
• winter lettuce
• mizuna
• mustard leaves
• radishes
• spring onions
• coriander
• parsley

Choose pots with good drainage and use a good-quality peat-free compost.

One advantage of container growing at this time of year is flexibility. Pots can begin outside while conditions are mild and later be moved against a sheltered wall, beneath a cloche or into an unheated greenhouse when the weather changes.

A few pots near the back door can keep the kitchen supplied with fresh leaves surprisingly late into the year.

What not to sow in September

Knowing what not to sow is just as useful.

For most of the UK, September is too late to begin warmth-loving summer crops such as tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, French beans and runner beans from seed.

Their season is ending rather than beginning.

Instead of trying to persuade summer to continue indefinitely, work with the season that is arriving.

Choose hardy leaves, quick roots and overwintering crops.

Gardening becomes much easier when we stop fighting the calendar.

September sowing at a glance

If you’re standing in the shed with a seed box in your hands and simply want to know what to reach for, start with:

For autumn and winter leaves:
Spinach, winter lettuce, rocket, mizuna and mustard leaves.

For quick roots:
Radishes and young turnips.

For useful alliums:
Spring onions, with overwintering onion sets and garlic planted where appropriate.

For herbs:
Coriander and parsley, ideally with some shelter as autumn advances.

Exactly what succeeds will depend on where you garden. A sheltered plot on the south coast may remain productive considerably longer than an exposed garden further north or at altitude.

Treat sowing dates as a guide rather than an appointment.

The weather always has the final say.

A garden moving into autumn

There is a particular pleasure in sowing seeds in September.

Spring sowing is full of expectation. We imagine overflowing summer beds, bowls of strawberries and tomatoes warming in the sun.

September sowing feels quieter.

You are no longer racing towards summer. Instead, you are making small preparations for the darker months ahead: a row of spinach here, a pot of rocket there, perhaps some winter lettuce tucked safely beneath glass.

Around you, the garden is changing.

The beans are slowing. Apples are beginning to fall. Squashes are hardening their skins and the first yellow leaves gather beneath the trees.

Yet the vegetable garden isn’t finished.

Push a few seeds into the still-warm earth and, in a matter of weeks, there will be fresh green leaves among all those autumn colours.

And perhaps that is one of the loveliest things about growing food.

There is nearly always another season beginning, just as the last one appears to end.

Further Reading: Wonderful Ways to Use Fresh Garden Peas, Grow Your Own Food: Save Money & Eat Well

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, Twitter, Pinterest & Facebook

Not sure where to start? Take a look at our Grow Your Own Packs with detailed step by step instructions, seeds and 1 years online support.