27 February 2025
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It’s not too late to squeeze a few more crops into your tiny garden, writes Chris Collins
I feel a second melancholy when late summertime come because I be intimate that my preferent horticulture activity will soon add up to an destruction . But the calendar month of September ahead provides a great chance to do one last excitable semen sowing before the dismal days and night take out in .
In early September , I ’ll be choosing fast - growing edibles such as wintertime dough , Spinacia oleracea and rocket . I ’ll sow these in short drills in a large pot in peat - free seed compost . call up that these plants can also be eaten as microgreens so they do n’t need to grow to mature plants to be enjoyed in a sandwich .
I also have sex to sow more exotic salad crop such as Asian greens , pak choi , mizuna and giant red-faced table mustard in module seed trays , sowing one or two seeds per cell . I ’ll germinate them in a cold disseminator or inhuman frame and plant out into their final position when they ’re a decent sizing . This way , I get a sturdier industrial plant and can protect them at their more juvenile microscope stage . One word of warning though , the pigeons tend to have a soft stain for these plants , so I suggest some eco or recycle net for protection !
inheritance varieties
steady down crops such as radish , turnip and swede can be direct sown too . These edibles have the advantage of being able-bodied to sit in the priming until they ’re needed . I also summate a container or two of broad beans , ready for next twelvemonth ’s dinner party plate . I always finger that the ‘ broad ’ sample much comfortably after sitting in the cold wintertime air .
Do n’t block to sum some endearing inheritance form to your seed collection . Garden Organic ’s Heritage Seed Library unloosen its one-year Seed List in December – packed with rare and luscious vegetable seed .
Spinach ‘Matador’ is a lovely pick and come again green
So , while seed sowing detachment is on the horizon – make the most of this grand end - of - season bodily function and you ’ll reap the benefits with saucy produce this year and next .
Small Space Q&A
Q. What flower can I sow in September ?
Cold-hardy swedes can sit in the ground until need
A. Plan for next yr ’s color by sowing dauntless annuals such calendula , cornflower , poppy and sweet pea plant in situ . Perennials such as genus Verbascum , eryingium , echinops and kniphofia can also be sown in trays , but I recommend you protect them over wintertime .
Q. My anthesis annuals have hold out over , what can I replace them with to encourage wildlife ?
A. Make some late sowings of herbs such as coriander , parsley and dill . These can be leave behind to flower next year , which will encourage hoverflies to visit and , in return , their larvae will bolt up any aphids .
Winter salads in raised bed
Q. Is it true you could grow potatoes in containers for a Christmas craw ?
A. Yes , in former September you’re able to develop Christmas seed tater such as ‘ Red Duke of York ’ in an old bagful or bin . filling two - third with peat - detached compost and place three tubers on the surface . Cover , water and lieu in a glasshouse or porch . When the potatoes shoot add together more compost , repeating until the bag is full . Once the foliage dies down , you could keep the Irish potato in the bag until needed as long as they ’re in a rime - devoid place .
