Grow Yourself a Daily Winter Harvest

Achieving a daily harvest year round, takes years of practice. I remember the first year I grew all my own carrots. Pride. And the year of the onion, that was solid. Potatoes have been a recent achievement, but that’s only because all the teenage mouths have left the building. Year of the broccoli – so proud …. see what I mean, you’ll be at this thing a goodly long time.

One foot in front of the other – just make a start. My best advice is to choose one crop and go all out to achieve a steady flow of that one thing for a year. Don’t try to do everything – little and often will get you there.

Achieving a daily winter harvest takes a little more fore thought than a summer one. That’s because we need to bust a move and get our crops in before it cools down – the hour is now!

The Staples

These 3 are my staples. The backbone of my winter kitchen and our winter wellness. Though they are humble and ordinary, don’t under estimate them! These are the winter crops to go for if you don’t have much room or time. Plant them this month, and pick them all winter and spring long.

1. Parsley. For me it has to be Italian flat leaf, but curly or flat – choose the one that floats your boat. Is there a more nourishing, low maintenance, go-with-everything, herb? I have at least 6 plants on the go at any one time. For long lived plants, it’s better to pick a little from each rather than a lot from one.
2. Silverbeet, Chard, Perpetual Beet, Kale. Beneficient leafy greens! Just like our friend parsley – very little work to do here, a tonne of nutrition and they fit into every wintery meal. Plant them into lovely soil and mulch well. Perk them up with a monthly liquid feed and keep picking the outside leaves to keep new fresh ones coming on. Drop the leaves on the ground as mulch.
3. Celery. We’re diving into divisive territory here, I know not all of you will agree with me about celery, but doesn’t every stock, soup or wintery slow cook need some?! The trick to juicy stems is to plant into good compost and mulch well. I make a pile of goodness in summer and plant into it in Autumn. Mulch is key as is good soil moisture. Check your soil weekly. Celery is very good friends with seaweed, so make up a watering can full and pour it over every week or so. Side dress with rotten manure or seaweed. Pick the outside stalks regularly with a twist and pull, to keep new growth coming on. I grow mine in the greenhouse – going undercover prevents rust.

Brassicas

In order to eat brassica’s autumn through spring I start planting late January and keep going in my little and often way until May. Cabbage whites are pesky until March or April and must be managed. The simplest and most effective way is to avoid them by putting up insect mesh.

Plant a mixture each time to keep things varied at the dinner table. Include some slow to mature with some faster ones to stagger your harvest. This is where sowing from seed comes into it’s own because you can sow two of this and three of that – whatever you need.

If you don’t have time to sow seed then have I got cool news for you! Mitre 10 and the Fielding farmers market are selling Awapuni seedlings pick and mix styles. Prick out the vegetable seedlings you want from their bulk trays into the provided cardboard box. Only $5 per little box and no plastic! Kudos to you guys.

Plant a few slow …

Most cabbage and broccoli take about 75 days from transplant to table. Variety plays a big part here – so read the info on the seed packet ok. (The smaller hybridised “mini” ones are of course alot quicker). Cauliflower is longer again at about 90 days and Brussel sprouts longer still at 120 (they really need to be in by now).

… with a few quick

Chinese cabbage, pak choi or bok choy are ready in about 6 weeks from transplant and are such a handy stir fry or steamed green. As is Italian Broccoli Rabe which is a slightly bitter, shooting broccoli (I love it!)

For example

Let’s make a virtual bed to show you what I mean.

Plant out 2 cauliflower, 3 broccoli, 2 cabbages, 1 Raab and 6 bok choy for a very useful staggered harvest in about 1.3 x 3m worth of bed. Planting or sowing a variety of small saladings (eg: land cress, corn salad, miners lettuce, rocket, coriander, winter lettuce) + beetroot, around the edge of the bed makes the most of the space.

The bok choy will be ready first. When they come out, plant more saladings. Next up you’ll start harvesting raab, followed by heading broccoli. Once the main head is cut from the broccoli it’ll keep providing good sized shoots for months on end. (Eat the stalk as well – broccoli is such great bang for your buck!) Then you’ll be eating cabbage + broccoli shoots, followed by the cauliflower and still more broccoli shoots!

Any gaps in harvest will be filled by your handy dandy leafy greens, parsley, root crops and celery.

If you planted a second bed up a month later, you’ll be moving into that one as the first bed fades away. Let it flower for the bees and beneficial insects.

Rootcrops + Leeks

Last but not least – rootcrops because you cannot have winter without them! Carrots, beetroot and parsnips are my go to’s, but you of course, plant what you love. In my cool mountain zone, I sow these mid to late summer so they are fully grown by winter. Make this job a priority!

Sow them after a heavy feeder because they don’t need any fertiliser. Though if you are on sandy soil or heavy clay you’ll benefit from the addition of a fine layer of compost. No storage stress with winter roots, they keep beautifully in natures fridge.

It’s super handy having leeks coming on in a staggered fashion as opposed to one big lot all ready at once. My first lot goes in, in January, another in February and another March. Leeks are hungry! So grow them in really good soil with compost added and a bit of rotten manure as a side dress once they get about 30cm. Regular liquid feeding supports good sized crops. Perennial leeks are a great option for small gardens.