I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions as
to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

In article , Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-30 18:13:11 +0100, Moonraker said:

I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions
as to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

I'm no veg grower but isn't this why people bottled and pickled? Fresh
veg is so hard to come by in winter months in any liberal sense!
Brussel sprouts? Cabbage? I'm sure things are available but I think
wide choice is going to be a bit tricky!

And salted and dried. It wasn't known as the hungry gap for nothing.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Apr 30, 6:29*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-30 18:13:11 +0100, Moonraker said:

I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions
as to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

I'm no veg grower but isn't this why people bottled and pickled? *Fresh
veg is so hard to come by in winter months in any liberal sense!
Brussel sprouts? Cabbage? *I'm sure things are available but I think
wide choice is going to be a bit tricky!
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.comwww.hillhousenurseryt earoom.com
South Devon

Well the winter staples were root veg, Parsnips Sweed, Carrots,
beetroot, Potatoes with hardy greens such as Sprouts, Curley Kale,
January King cabbage and hard white cabbage (what we used to call
Dutch Cabbage) which could be cut in late Autumn and clamped like
potatoes.
Also Marrows left till they were ripe then stored would last into late
winter,
Then again peas left to ripen and used as dried peas.
Not to mention as Sacha did the fruit and veg that was bottled.
Where is the problem, other than finding enough room for them all.
David @ the windy end of Swansea Bay

On Apr 30, 6:42*pm, wrote:
In article , Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-30 18:13:11 +0100, Moonraker said:

I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions
as to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

I'm no veg grower but isn't this why people bottled and pickled? *Fresh
veg is so hard to come by in winter months in any liberal sense!
Brussel sprouts? Cabbage? *I'm sure things are available but I think
wide choice is going to be a bit tricky!

And salted and dried. *It wasn't known as the hungry gap for nothing.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I will add to my post that has yet to show,
For early spring there is the spinach and Swiss Chard left from last
autumn which will sprout lovely young leaves, the sprouts from the
cabbage stalks which you cut a cross into after cutting the cabbage,
the shoots from any sprouts that didn't get picked and from any left
over cabbage; as good as if not better than sprouting broccoli;
There is always the young nettle shoots, better than spinach if picked
nice and young.
If you plant Spring cabbage about 3 to 4 inches appart then you can
thin them a couple of times as early greens, and if you have a
greenhouse then grow a few in there over winter..
If you can grow some French beans in large pots then early beans,
(they take 12 weeks from sowing to picking).
Otherwise Broad beans, the tops can be cooked as a green veg, and
young pods can be picked and sliced as green beans.
David @ the windy end of Swansea Bay

In article ,
Dave Hill wrote:

I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions
as to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stage=
s
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

I'm no veg grower but isn't this why people bottled and pickled? =A0Fres=
h
veg is so hard to come by in winter months in any liberal sense!
Brussel sprouts? Cabbage? =A0I'm sure things are available but I think
wide choice is going to be a bit tricky!

And salted and dried. =A0It wasn't known as the hungry gap for nothing.

I will add to my post that has yet to show,
For early spring there is the spinach and Swiss Chard left from last
autumn which will sprout lovely young leaves, the sprouts from the
cabbage stalks which you cut a cross into after cutting the cabbage,
the shoots from any sprouts that didn't get picked and from any left
over cabbage; as good as if not better than sprouting broccoli;
There is always the young nettle shoots, better than spinach if picked
nice and young.
If you plant Spring cabbage about 3 to 4 inches appart then you can
thin them a couple of times as early greens, and if you have a
greenhouse then grow a few in there over winter..
If you can grow some French beans in large pots then early beans,
(they take 12 weeks from sowing to picking).
Otherwise Broad beans, the tops can be cooked as a green veg, and
young pods can be picked and sliced as green beans.

I snipped remarks I made about the rationing years, but one of the
relevant points is that most of those are fine in mild winters
only, or are much later than the hungry gap. We have grown
accustomed to mild winters, but even those are enough to see
off most of those vegetables in the colder parts of the country.
I forgot leeks, though - they are about as hardy as sprouts.

This year, my broad beans are a few inches high to just coming
through - at the end of April! If I had planted them in February,
they would have been further on, but I have lost them before by
doing that. My spinach has just got its true leaves :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Apr 30, 6:13*pm, Moonraker wrote:
I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions as
to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire



if you are running out it's because you don't grow enough.
Grow stuff that freezes well.
Peas beans cauli etc.
Also fruit
Some suff can be converted to soups & then frozen. Tomatoes, cellery
etc.

Most roots will store or can be left in the ground until needed.

"Moonraker" wrote

I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid Winter
then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions as to which
veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring months please? I
have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages by greedy mice. Any
regimes far all year round supplies?


Look around the seed catalogues. We grow spring cauliflowers, probably the
best to grow, try Walcheren Winter Armardo April. There are others that
mature at different times so look around. Leeks can still be dug in late
winter as can parsnips and carrots.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 30/04/2012 23:00, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Moonraker" wrote

I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions
as to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early
stages by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?


Look around the seed catalogues. We grow spring cauliflowers, probably
the best to grow, try Walcheren Winter Armardo April. There are others
that mature at different times so look around. Leeks can still be dug in
late winter as can parsnips and carrots.
Many thanks for all the food for thought as well as my stomach!

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

Swiss chard is pretty tough, but will only do you for the occasional meal.

Again, if you have cover (cold greenhouse) there are a lot of winter salad crops available, but the main problem is that everything grows so slowly at that time of year, so in practice it doesn't work very well. Not in Yorkshire, anyway.

Jerusalem artichokes can be left in the soil a long time without coming to harm - again, there's a limit as to how many you can eat!

My Jan-March eating from the garden is mainly apples stored since November, and after that we hit the frozen fruit - mulberries and strawberries - and the medlar jelly. Hardly staples! But if I didn't have so much shade from the fruit trees (not to mention next doors grove of mature birches, the other next door's lime, and my own cherries and hollies) I would be able to grow more beans and add them to the deepfreeze.

In message , Moonraker
writes
I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions
as to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

As others have said, what you are hitting is the 'Hungry Gap'

Do you have space for a poly tunnel? This will enable you to extend the
growing season quite a bit
--
Chris French

Moonraker wrote:
I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions as
to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

I had red kale, curly kale and leeks all available well into spring this year, although we didn't really eat much of them. And the old greenhouse grow bags were used to get some lettuce/salad leaves going - they didn't really get going until Feb/March, but there were enough to pick a few leaves off during winter. Sprouts would be the other obvious one, but personally I have terrible trouble getting my sprouts to grow.

wrote:
This year, my broad beans are a few inches high to just coming
through - at the end of April! If I had planted them in February,
they would have been further on, but I have lost them before by
doing that. My spinach has just got its true leaves :-)

My broad beans (mostly over-wintered, with some later ones filling the moused gaps) are in full flower atm. Just need some bees to hurry up and pay a visit.

On Apr 30, 6:13*pm, Moonraker wrote:
I try to be self supporting in veg, but always fail. We run out mid
Winter then nothing until early Summer except frozen. Any suggestions as
to which veg can be grown to fill the late Winter and early Spring
months please? I have lost all my Spring cabbages in their early stages
by greedy mice. Any regimes far all year round supplies?

Nettles are one of the first veg to become available in the year.
There's a huge number of things you can make with them, you wont want
them every day. There are dried peas & elders, dried fruits, bottled
cabbage, carrot, cucumber, pepper, and a great range of frozen eats.


NT

On May 1, 9:08*am, kay wrote:

Swiss chard is pretty tough, but will only do you for the occasional
meal.


Depends how much you grow. I put it in with leeks after I have lifted
my early spuds and we are getting a couple of meals a week out of it
now. I did cover it in fleece at the start of the winter.

Jonathan

Which reminds me - beansprouts can be grown at any time of year ;-)