Hardy veg that will cope with cold weather
Post categories: beetroot,Ìýcarrot,Ìýcourgette,Ìýfrench bean,Ìýtomato
| 15:40 UK time, Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Autumn is here, with its shorter days and lower temperatures, which means you'll be saying goodbye to your summer veg. So the Dig In team popped over to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Weather office to ask Broadcast Meteorologist Peter Gibbs what things that will be happier with the colder conditions and he gave us the following advice.
Plants like tomatoes, courgettes and French beans just aren't designed to cope with cold weather. Make sure you keep harvesting before they get killed off by frost, but don't forget you can pick tomatoes and ripen them indoors. You might be able to keep your plants going a little longer by giving them some protection. Horticultural fleece is ideal, a light fabric that can be bought at garden centres.
Root crops such as carrots and beetroot are much tougher and can stay in the ground until you need them. Just watch out for slugs, which love to come out to feed on mild, damp autumn nights.
There is some veg that you can plant now. Oriental greens such as pak choi and mizuna will stand frost, but get them going now while the soil is still fairly warm. You'll get even better results if you cover them with a cloche. The plastic ones are fairly inexpensive.
Miniature onions known as sets can go in, along with garlic bulbs. Broad beans can be sown now, but check on the back to make sure you get a variety suitable for autumn sowing. These will sprout, sit through the winter, then grow away next spring to give you an earlier crop.
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