Leaves are falling, cold fronts are approaching and the wind is whistling. Winter is coming.
Since we are spending more time at home, now is best time to grow your own fruit and vegetables – especially because we have time to test our green thumb! Plus, we’re sure you would appreciate your salads much more if you knew you had hand picked your ingredients straight from your garden.
Even though winter is not typically a growing season for plants, we’ve made a list of the eight easiest vegetables, herbs and fruits that thrive in the colder months, producing tasty touches for your next dish.
Live in an apartment? Don’t stress! Your seedlings can grow just as efficiently in a container garden or pots in a courtyard or on a balcony! Just ensure you plant your crops correctly with enough soil and space in full sunlight. Thanks to the colder months, you don’t have to worry too much about your plants burning throughout winter – they do not only prosper in the light, but will die if they don’t absorb enough Vitamin D.
A good tip for beginners is to avoid chemicals and herbicides when growing your garden. There are many ways to sprout eco-friendly produce such as, creating fertilising from your compost or using mulch during the planting stage.
Not too sure what to grow? Here’s our top eight crop recommendations for this winter:
1. Peas
Winter is all about soups, and what better ingredient than peas. Snap them freshly from your garden and see the benefits in your homemade, grandma-style soup!
Best time to plant: Autumn
Care tips: They’re climbers so ensure they have a structure to crawl up.
Level of difficulty: Easy
2. Spring Onion
A staple vegetable! You can use spring onions in just about everything and you’ll be happy you did as they have the power to enrich flavours within most meals.
Best time to plant: Autumn
Care tips: Space each crop 10 centimetres apart from each other
Level of difficulty: Easy – Medium
3. Lettuce
You probably don’t notice how useful lettuce really is… Besides, what is a salad with no lettuce? This winter crop is easy to grow yourself – perfect so you can always serve your meals with a leafy garnish.
Best time to plant: Autumn and Winter
Care tips: Plant in shallow soil
Level of difficulty: Easy
4. Spinach
Much like lettuce but just a little more versatile. Can you imagine cooking your morning eggs and adding some spinach that’s freshly cut from your garden? Talk about gourmet cooking!
Best time to plant: Autumn and Winter
Care tips: Plant in partial shade
Level of Difficulty: Easy – Medium
5. Rosemary
Sunday roasts are where rosemary thrives in cooking, extracting its flavour in the heat of the oven, further elaborating to the taste profile on your dinner plate. We know your lamb always tasted good, but imagine if you could say that the rosemary was grown and harvested by you in your own garden?
Best time to plant: Autumn
Care tips: Don’t overwater and place in full sun
Level of difficulty: Easy
6. Thyme
Pizza nights are not what they used to be. Isolation has given us the thyme to get creative with our cooking. And what better thyme to add flavour to your classic homemade pizza?
Best time to plant: Autumn
Care tips: Needs excellent drainage – best in a pot
Level of difficulty: Easy
7. Sage
Cooking with meat? Add sage. Making herbal tea? Use sage. Sage likes to be the life of the party, with its distinctive, embellished flavour. Take some credit back by home growing this herb in your own garden!
Best time to plant: Autumn
Care tips: May need extra water in extreme heat
Level of difficulty: Easy
8. Strawberries
When the temperatures lower, we wait for them to emerge on the shelves in the supermarkets. Strawberries are a household favourite and great for those morning smoothies. No need to fight the crowds this year, when you can harvest your very own punnet!
Best time to plant: Autumn or early Winter
Care tips: Require plenty of water with good drainage
Level of difficulty: Easy
Once your plants have grown, take a look through our many recipes available to see how to best use your home-grown crop. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for other things to do at home, here are eight things that you can learn!
If you’re thinking about starting up your own veggie patch, start planting sooner rather than later! Frost can impact your seedlings in the early stages of growth as they are extremely fragile to the environment around them. If you have more developed crops for the colder months in winter, it will be much easier for them to grow within the climate.
Finally, overwatering your plants can be tempting, but definitely don’t go crazy during the winter seasons. Only water when your crops really need it and ensure that the soil is dry before you water them again.