The Cottage Smallholder

I haven't managed to grow stuff over winter but I used to live in Derbyshire. Now I live in Latvia where winters are pretty bad with a metre of snow over the two winters I have lived here, so no winter veg for me. Everything gets frozen or pickled to last me through the winter and still allows me to go on holiday. We are extending the season using our polytunnel but with temperatures down to -29C, I am not anticipating growing stuff all the way through the winter. Unless you have to grow stuff to eat then I would suggest experimenting and seeing what grows and when. You can plant stuff now for successional growing and there are plenty of autumn/winter radishes and onions. Some veg lasts over the winter like broccoli, leeks and kale but you are perhaps too late for those as they should be growing now (at least I think they should, mine are but hopfully mine will be ready before the snows). Stuff can be grown in pots while your waiting for ground to clear too, big tins, juice cartons, milk cartons can all be pressed into service if you run out of room.

Cor this is turning into an essay but I am sure there are others who have far more experience of growing stuff through the winter. Oh yes one veg that works for me is Swiss Chard, in the first year it dies down but is one of the first veg to come through in the spring giving me some early spring greens and the next year it seeds itself prolifically.