Winter Veg

We planted some winter broad beans towards the end of 2008. They have come along nicely and as can be seen are now covered in flower. We now need to give them a bit of support to ensure they are not blown over and damaged. However in an adjacent plot there are some spring planted beans that are only a bit smaller than ours. It does beg the question if it is worth planting a winter variety. We'll see what the advantage is when it's time to harvest.

We also planted our garlic in October 2008. Garlic grows best when it has a prolonged period below 7 deg C. Therefore it is ideally suited to the British climate. It also stores well so a row of garlic will last a long time once harvested. The garlic can be seen at the front of the picture below.

We also put in some winter onions. We planted both red and white varities and these are doing quite well. Onions don't like to have weeds around them and by growing over winter they can develop in a relatively weed free situation. Now it's warming up the weeds are starting to grow so we'll have to get to work with a hoe. That's the reason rows are planted at least 8 inches apart. It gives you enough room to work the hoe between them. Again, as with most things grown on the plot, the onions will keep well in an open mesh bag in the garage. We actually still have some from mid 2008 that are perfectly good to eat.