Claire Mummery: What to plant in your garden now for a winter feast

Photo taken in Florence, Italy

Continuing in our endeavours to sow ready for a winter feast, it is now a great time to get your above-ground veg in to accompany those delicious root vegetables you’ve already sown.

It is always good to be mindful of optimising space when growing the above-ground crops, as many tend to take over your patch. For example, the brassica family can get quite big and use up a lot of room. My advice is to try interplanting your brassicas with your root crops, especially beetroot. This combination works really well as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are hungry plants and so is beetroot. The soil nutrient-requirement is similar enough for them to grow in harmony.

For your hungry feeders, I recommend a good combination of NPK over winter to produce delicious and nutritious crops. Nitrogen (N) helps with root and stem growth and provides a firm base for the plant. Phosphorus (P) helps the roots absorb nutrients better. Potassium (K) protects brassica against diseases and improves colour. A combination of kelp and animal manure will give your brassicas and beetroot a great start in life and a monthly spray of seaweed will help support the continued growth and health of the plant.

I like to choose a variety of sprouting broccoli, as this is the plant that truly keeps on giving. If you have a small space, you can grow space-saver cabbage and mini cauliflowers. Romenesco is one of my favourites, and seems to tolerate the wet really well, without suffering any rot. If you haven’t encountered this marvellous variety before, it is a delightful hybrid between a cauliflower and broccoli, featuring beautiful spirals.

Alas, yes it’s true - the snails do love to go in between the layers of your succulent veg, and they’re out in full force over winter during the wetter, cooler weather. I find the best way to rid the slugs and snails from your freshly harvested vegetable is to put it on the bench and cut into quarters, then leave for a few minutes as the snails start to wake up. Smartly plunge the whole thing into water and wash, then scoop the snails out and put in your bokashi or worm farm, as they are great protein! After rinsing your veg, pat dry and store in a container in the fridge, where you can expect it to last for a couple of weeks.

Much like the root crops, the above-ground vegetables can take up to 90 days to produce, so it is great to get some quick greens happening in between. Bok choi is a fantastic rapidly-growing green that matures in 30-60 days. You not only get the crispy white stem, which is great in stir fries, but the green parts are highly nutritious too, and they can be steamed and dressed with an Asian sauce topped with sesame seeds.

Bok choi is not only easy to grow, but it’s a small plant too, so can be grown in between your bigger plants, maximising the space in your garden beds or containers. With a quick growing time, bok choi plants will be ready to harvest before your larger crops get too big to shade them out.

If you live in warmer areas, you will be able to grow coriander and peas to accompany, and all areas will be able to grow herbs for that added depth of flavour all winter long.

Next on the list is to look at a couple of small trees. It is always great to have a lemon, mandarin or lime tree in a pot or close to the house, as the blossoms over the autumn months give off a delectable fragrance and then, in late winter, you will have fruit to harvest too.

The beauty of citrus trees is they hold their fruit on the tree until you are ready to use it. Remember that these trees are hungry and would like a regular monthly feed of kelp, worm or diluted bokashi juice, comfrey and banana skin tea. They will thank you for it in years to come.

I hope you enjoy growing this season and delight in the tasty and nutritious bounties you harvest for your efforts. I know your wallet will appreciate it too.

For more gardening advice, visit growinspired.co.nz and discover Claire Mummery’s online gardening course at www.growinspiredacademy.com