Month by month guide to an edible garden - autumn/winter

Information sheet

Autumn is a busy time in an edible garden with lots to harvest. Use this guide and the links to different crop sheets to help plan your growing.

  • School term: Early Autumn, Late Autumn
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s):

 

September

October

November

December

Sow/plant

Lettuce (winter)
Onions (sets)
Radishes
Salad leaves

Spinach

Strawberries (runners)

Broad beans
Garlic (cloves)
Lettuce (winter)
Onions (sets)
Peas
Strawberries (runners)

Broad beans
Fruit trees/bushes
Garlic (cloves)
Raspberries (canes)

Fruit trees/bushes

Indoors:
Cress
Microgreens
Mustard

Harvest

Carrots
Chard
French beans

Garlic
Leeks
Lettuce

Onions
Potatoes (main crop)
Pumpkin
Radish
Raspberries

Spinach
Squash
Tomatoes

Chard
French beans
Leeks
Lettuce
Garlic
Potatoes (main crop)
Pumpkin
Raspberries
Spinach
Squash
Tomatoes

Carrots
Leeks
Lettuce
Spinach

Chard
Leeks
Lettuce

Other jobs

September/October

  • Prepare soil
  • Add compost or soil improver
  • Mulch bare soil or try sowing green manures
  • Protect crops from frosts
  • Order strawberry runners

November/December

  • Dig soil if the conditions allow (i.e. it's not too wet or frozen)
  • Collect leaves to make leaf compost
  • Cut autumn raspberry canes to ground level

Jargon Buster

Many edible plants are typically grown from seed but some are usually grown from baby plants, often because growing them from seed takes a long time or is unreliable. There are different names for different types, for example:

  • Onions can be grown from miniature onions known as sets. These mature faster and are less prone to disease.
  • Strawberry plants produce runners that grow out across the soil and create new plants at the end of them. For more information on these, check out our resource.
  • Garlic is generally supplied in large bulbs made up of many cloves. Each individual clove can be planted to produce a new plant.
  • Raspberry plants are often supplied as canes, which are dormant plants with long, woody stems (hence the name).
  • Potatoes are grown from miniature potatoes known as seed potatoes and are generally split into three groups: first earlies, second earlies and main crop (depending on when you harvest them).