Keep growing all year round with our exciting collection of winter harvest vegetables. Choose Beetroots and sweet, buttery Turnips that are perfect for roasting or Pak Choi and Tatsoi to level up your stir-fries. There are fresh salad leaves and lettuces for winter greens and aromatic herbs for hearty stews. These vegetables are hardy for planting from the end of August through to October and harvest throughout winter. Growing vegetables over winter is easier (fewer pests around + lots more rain = less effort) and will keep you in healthy fresh veg through the colder months, well into spring.
Our vegetable plants are sown on a family farm in Lancashire, then nurtured into strong young plants by Josh in the sunny South Downs before they rock up in your garden. By selecting only the strongest and tastiest varieties, Josh makes sure you get a headstart on your plot, with impressive crops and no waste.
Need help picking?
If I plant now, when can I harvest my veg?
If you plan your planting carefully, you’ll have a nice steady succession of crops to last you until spring. The first harvests will be salads and greens such as Tatsoi and Pak Choi which will be ready in a couple of months. Then come the vegetables you may want to grow for Christmas dinner - carrots, parsnips, and the obligatory Brussels Sprouts! Lastly, overwintering vegetables like Leeks, Broccoli and Cabbages can stay in the ground until March or April, when they’ll fill the gap between your winter crops and summer harvests.
Can I grow winter veg in pots and small spaces?
Compact plants like Rhubarb Chard and Dwarf Green Curled Kale take up little space and are perfectly suited to growing in pots or mixed borders. Hyssop and Purslane also thrive in containers. Beetroots only need 10cm space between each plant so are ideal for smaller raised beds or borders. Most salad plants and compact lettuces such as Freckles or Winter Density will give you maximum taste for very little space.
Will I need to protect my winter veg?
Some varieties - like Cabbages, Broccoli, Leeks and Kale - are very hardy and will be fine throughout the winter. However, if frost is forecast, you should protect more tender plants like salads and leafy greens by covering them with horticultural fleece or a cloche overnight. Although there are fewer pests around at this time of year, you may still need to net young plants to stop the birds eating them.
Salads in Winter? Surprisingly, yes!
Strange but true, one of the best times to grow salad is in the colder months. Lettuces prefer being out of the scorching sun and appreciate the increased rainfall (even if we don’t!) Several have been bred specially for autumn planting, including Marvel of Four Seasons and Arctic King. Salads grow quickly and you can cut the leaves whenever you need them, leaving the rest of the plant in the ground. Brighten up your salads with Mizuna, Endive, Mustard or Chicory. They’ll all be ready at around 6-8 weeks and even sooner if you have a greenhouse or use cloches.
