Winter. Time for the garden to slow down and receive respite from all the heat of our warmer months.
In our climate it’s time for growing Brassica, leafy greens, onions, garlic, peas, and Broad beans.
Winter seed collection and sprouting kit
So to start off our winter crop, we travelled to Blackwood to visit The Diggers Club (St. Erth). I’ve been a member since 2007 and it is always a pleasure to visit their shop and gardens to see what is available. I especially like to browse their expansive seed collection and get carried away sometimes.
As you can see above, we chose quite a selection of seeds including a new pair of gloves for me, and a sprouting kit for Kim.
Winter vegetables
So some of the winter veg that we will planting this year is (from top left) Broad Bean crimson flowered, Broccoli Purple Sprouting, Cauliflower Sicily Purple, Broccoli Romanesco, Spring Onions Evergreen, Kale Red Russian, Silverbeet Five Colour mix (aka Rainbow Chard), Loofah (for soap making), Broccoli Green Sprouting, Spring Onion Red, and some Sweet Pea varieties that Kim is going to grow.
Also out of shot is a bag of six bulbs of organic garlic.
Diggers Sprouting Kit
The Sprouting Kit is a fairly simple affair. For your money you get 4 large packets of seeds and a sprouting jar that has a draining lid and stand attached. Looks simple enough and I will write a separate post on the process of growing sprouts with lots of photos. We haven’t been eating them because they are just so expensive at the supermarkets and greengrocers.
So this weekend is renewal time in our veggie patch. I will spend half a day clearing out the old crops and preparing the beds, and another half day of planting. I should manage to get everything in the ground including the garlic in the front yard.
Looking forward to sharing my winter garden with you all as it begins to become established. However before that happens, I will be posting about what remains from the summer crop before I pull it all out on Saturday morning!
Fun times ahead. I am starting to enjoy winter gardening much more than I used to; mainly due to the killer summer heat and reduced rainfall we’ve received over the last 6 months and the last few summers.
The climate, it is a changing. 🙁
a very timely post Gavin, I just ordered some seeds to get back into sprouting and growing microgreens. the sprouts are so easy to grow, it is just a case of getting into the habit again.
Thanks Gillian. It looks like a simple enough process, we’re going to start sprouting over the weekend!
I love winter planting, which has been postponed this year by our (terrifyingly) warm April!
Also, you might be all over this already, Gavin, but for pea shoots, I just buy a 500g bag of McKenzie’s dried peas from the supermarket for a dollar or two and they germinate like clockwork year round.
Great tip Natalie. Did know that one, so will be checking it out. Thanks!