Greenhouse plans for winter

[TyneFilth]

I know one shouldn't wish summer over too soon, but I'm looking into what I can grow through the winter in place of the tomatoes, chillis and cucumber which will finish in a month or so. Wonder if others have ideas too?

My greenhouse was newly put up this April onto a small (level!) concrete ring beam but inside that it's all direct soil. So this summer I experimented with half my tomatoes being in pots, the other half directly into the ground. Those in pots got off to a great start but the ones in the ground caught up and overtook then. Also there were a couple of occasions my watering regularity fell a bit short, but the plants in the ground have been completely unaffected as they had consistent soil moisture from outside to draw on.

Once I pull out the toms and empty the big pots, I'll dig over the rest of the compacted soil, and I was planning to grow salads and herbs across as much of the greenhouse floor as I can. I have a bit of home made staging which I will be able to do seed trays in, at waist height, which also will keep tiny seedlings out of reach of slugs I hope (it's made of rough wood).

Any others with greenhouses have plans for winter? Or experience and tips?

I overwinter my geraniums. Before the first frost I remove them from the planters/ ground, trim them back and them replant them in the large pots that the summer veg has been in. (New compost). They then sit snuggly under the bench till spring.
I also put in the pots of Agapanthus.

I overwintered geraniums, dahlias in their pots and anything that didn’t like damp. Usually have lots of seeds starting too. Loved sitting in their on a rainy winters day. Moved so no greenhouse....yet.

I’m sowing winter salads for the greenhouse in tubs. I have pots of coriander and parsley as well.

I love sitting in there with a cuppa during the winter as it’s in a sunny spot😎

Sweet peas are better sown in the autumn and planted out in the spring. You can sow broad beans in the autumn too, but it doesn't work for me as we don't warm up early enough in the spring for them to be pollinated.

All great ideas. I will ponder early sweet pea sowing and the more tender herbs, although I have a raised bed for herbs made out of an old sandpit, for which I rather hoped I could fashion a bespoke cloche using some reclaimed perspex.

I don't have any tender ornamentals but I've remembered I have two avocados which sprouted in the compost heap and are now in pots, in a sheltered corner that I nearly forgot about...

Bulbs for early flowering. Or just bulbs to flower in the greenhouse to light your spirit during the grey days of winter.

As Mere said, sweet peas can be sown indoors around October, then consigned to an unheated greenhouse or coldframe till March. If I had a greenhouse, I'd probably just grow millions of sweetpeas.:D