Winter Salads

Now that days are getting shorter and the temperature is cooling down, it is easy to think that there is not much that can be grown in a garden in winter but this, in many regions, is just not true.

With a greenhouse or polytunnel, of course, a good variety of greens can be grown all year round and with a bit of heating – I used to have a little wood
stove – a lot can be achieved.

Above: Turnips; Beetroot. But let’s suppose that you don’t have a greenhouse, there’s still quite a bit that can be grown outside even if there are frosts, as long as the garden is well sheltered from damaging winds. The kales are a good example; they are the hardiest of all vegetables and seeds can be planted at almost any time of the year. Start them off in seed trays on a sunny window sill and when they are 8 -10 cm tall they can be planted out. Not only is kale frost resistant, it actually tastes better after a few sharp frosts. There are some good varieties: Hungry Gap speaks for itself, as do the Siberian varieties. I prefer the curly ones although black kale (Cavolo Nero), with wrinkled leaves, is both tasty and pleasing to the eye. Kale can be grown on most soils and it can even be grown in soil where cabbage suffers from clubroot. Turnips and beetroot can be planted very late on (and very early too) and if you like them small and tender they can be cropped quite quickly, and don’t forget that the leaves can be eaten as well as the roots.

Above: Kale; Chicory; Rocket. Even in our little urban front garden we manage
to grow rocket (or wintercress,  as grandpa Herbert called it) throughout most
of the winter. It self seeds and although it looks a bit tatty after a few frosts, it tends to recover quickly. Here’s a tasty tip: try deep frying battered rocket flowers – delicious! Another salad crop that can be grown outside all year long in southern England is lamb’s lettuce, also known as corn salad or mache. It is one of my favourite salad plants but watch out - slugs and snails love it as well. Giant red mustard is pretty hardy and easy to grow. It has a very fiery taste and, like rocket, goes well with a lettuce salad to give it a bit of a kick.

A classic winter vegetable is chicory and I just can’t understand why more of it isn’t eaten in the UK. It is a bit more complicated than most plants to grow and has to be first planted the previous summer. It looks somewhat like a lettuce
but the leaves are bitter. However, at the onset of winter you dig up the roots
and repot them indoors in the dark. After a few weeks the “chicons” sprout.
They are best eaten when they are about 15 cm tall either raw in salad, they
have a delightfully delicate flavour, or cooked. I prefer mine wrapped in ham
and fried. Make sure, even after harvesting, that the chicons are kept in total darkness otherwise they become bitter.

Finally, if the weather is too bad outside to contemplate anything, you can cultivate all winter long in your own home. Sprouting is becoming a popular hobby with many and all you really need is a tray and some thick blotting paper. Most people will be familiar with mung bean sprouts but I strongly recommend that you try peas. They taste just as good as the real thing. I have also tried chick peas and they are much tastier in soups when sprouted. Only sprout organic seeds because you never know what the industrial ones have been treated with. Alfalfa and fenugreek are both good to eat and very nutritious.

Above: Mung Beans; Chick Peas. With a greenhouse, polytunnel or even a cold frame there are far more possibilities. You can grow lettuce, carrots, spring onions as well as all of the above. Oriental greens do especially well given a bit of shelter. The white Chinese cabbage (napa), Pak Choy and the Japanese Mizuna are all good varieties. I particularly like Mizuna. It is good both raw and cooked, and the plant looks like an exaggerated dandelion. It can normally be
cut back three times over the winter period. Fortunately the seeds for these varieties have now become easy to find. Swiss chard (leaf beet) comes in
three colours: green, red and gold and is both delicious and decorative.

Cold frames can be as simple as a miniature polytunnel: metal hoops about
50cm tall covered with clear heavy-duty plastic sheeting. Construct it so it can
be easily opened for weeding and watering (watch this because in winter it
might seem wet but under cover the soil can dry out quickly). Old glass doors and windows can be converted to make lean-tos against walls or flat frames
on beds.

Above: A cold frame. If you have a large garden you will find yourself with lots
of bare beds at this time of year and it will soon be the time to sow your garlic
and onion sets for next summer. It will also not be long before peas (Feltham First) and broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia) need to go in before the cold hits. Other beds can be put down to plastic, carpet or cardboard but another idea is green manure. Mustard, clover and fenugreek are the ones that I have tried
and all work better if germinated under fleece. The seeds will germinate and grow until the frost kills them. You can normally leave the rest to the worms.
Not only is soil fertility enhanced by green manures, they also suppress weed
growth. Can’t be bad!

Got any advice of your own? Know any tasty  recipes? Make sure you share
them with us all, simple click add comment. Rember it's an open forum and if
you can't find what your looking for, just Ask Finbow. Please see the full list of vegetables we have covered below.

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