Advice for a newbie veg grower

[Coldcoffeekindamorning]

This year I have built x3 small raised beds in my garden. I've managed to grow courgettes, unsuccessful turks turbans that won't produce anything boo! and beetroot. I have some corn growing as well as rhubarb and leeks. I have potatoes in some pots and some super mama tomatoes that aren't very successful (only 2 so far!!!). I am pretty chuffed tbh! I didn't think I would be able to grow anything so even the failures don't bother me so much.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to plant over winter? The beetroot is almost ready and I'm assuming the courgettes will last until autumn? I'd love to keep my wee garden going over winter!

Watch Huw Richard’s and Charles Dowding on YouTube about what to plant in August. I’m going to do golden beetroot, carrots, various greens like chard, kale, and mustard greens, and I’ve started some tall vertical peas and mange tout off over a bamboo structure.

The two crops I used to grow in the UK most in winter which gave me the best results were kale, I'd go for a Russian Red type which is slightly less nutty than the Cavolo Nero types and Spinach, the winter spinaches were relentless all winter long.

I'd also recommend Claytonia, a fabulous hardy little plant which goes all winter long giving good fleshy leaves to add to any winter stew or sandwich.

Real Seeds have a 'what to sow in the autumn' type guide.
What to sow in autumn & winter

Ive tried planting carrots many times but it doesnt seem to work.. could it be a slug problem or a soil problem? Thanks

Another vote for Charles Dowding.

As a fairly recent veg grower my advice is to stick with the safe tried and tested varieties to begin with. I am always being seduced by exciting sounding heritage varieties, and they are usually the ones that have I problems with. Master the art first, before you try something more adventurous.

Carrots are notoriously difficult to germinate.

normally I would be growing chard, spinach and autumn king lettuce, but in east Sussex,no rain for 2 months, everything is struggling..last year I overwintered onions and garlic,had a good crop.

Have you tried them in buckets with a mix of bagged topsoil and compost? They don’t like my clay soil, but we’ve had absolutely loads of carrots from buckets. I keep three going, on rotation

Garlic! Plant at the end of October and harvest June/July when the foliage starts to die back. I've only grown hardnecked varieties which means you also get to harvest their flower stalks (called scapes) to use to make pesto or in stir fries. They're grown from garlic cloves, the bigger the clove the bigger the bulb that will be produced. Trouble free. Slugs don't touch them. Very hardy.

Didn't know it was so easy, haven't grown veg over winter before but might as well try rather than leave my raised beds empty. Where do you buy your garlic to plant?

I've ordered it off t'interweb. I'm sorry but I can't recall which nursery but all the usual suspects sell it. An actual nursery near me sells the bulbs so it's worth asking at any local plant centres. You can just try planting supermarket garlic. I believe they usually sell softneck garlic but if you've got some that's sprouting or no other alternative it's worth a punt. Give them a wash jic they've got growth inhibitor.

Once you've grown a batch, if you like the variety, save some cloves for next season. The biggest cloves will grow the biggest bulbs. You may never have to buy garlic again.

I'm rubbish at growing veg. So if I can grow it I think anyone can.

With garlic actually the bigger the clover the more new cloves in the resulting bulb, so sometimes each clove ends up smaller even if the full bulb is bigger.

Id grow garlic from a grocers rather than a supermarket, more.likely to be more local to you and the more local the better.

Rainbow chard. it looks great, seems to be bombproof, and the leaves are lovely in a salad.

Carrots are astonishingly difficult to grow successfully - seed needs to be fresh to germinate, slugs love the seedlings, they split and fork at the least sign of a stone in the soil, and if they manage to get going then carrot root fly comes along and lays her bloody babies on them.

If you want to grow chilis and peppers they appreciate starting off in early January; ditto onions from seed.