Late summer is the season of abundance on the veg plot or allotment. Tomatoes are ripening, there’s a glut of beans and more courgettes that you can eat. Yet this time of year isn’t just about picking and enjoying the fruits of your labours. Take time to plant and sow now and you can have home-grown produce in the months ahead. And if you’ve left it too late to sow kale, broccoli or Brussels sprouts, then you don’t need to miss out because most garden centres have stocks of young plants just ready to set out and grow on for tasty winter crops.

Before you put anything in the ground, clear away spent top growth and add it to the compost heap. For seeds, use a rake to work the surface of the soil into a fine tilth and use slug traps or organic pellets to prevent the young growth from being eaten.

DON’T HAVE A VEG PLOT?
There’s no need to miss out, you can still grow fresh food for autumn in a patio pot or window box. Fill the container with fresh compost, thinly sow some seed from a packet of oriental leaves, cover lightly and water and you should be picking your first leaves in around eight weeks. Cut-and-come again mixes such as these will provide several droppings, so fill as many containers as possible for a regular supply.

Scottish Gardener:

Autumn Salads
There’s a good choice of leafy vegetables including corn salad and land cress that can be sown now for picking throughout autumn and into the winter months. All of them are hardy, but they’ll grow better if you give them some protection, so keep a few cloches or some horticultural fleece at hand to cover them as temperatures drop.

Scottish Gardener:

Oriental Vegetables
Many oriental vegetables grow better in autumn, when there’s less chance of them bolting. Picked small they make tasty salad greens and when left to mature they are the ideal ingredient for stir-fries. Chinese celery, pak choi, Mizuna and choy sum are some of the best known, but the range of oriental vegetables is huge and includes spicy radishes and komatsuna, or mustard spinach from Japan, which is vigorous and frost-resistant. Cover them with fleece or cloches, or grow them in the greenhouse.

Scottish Gardener:

Turnips
Turnips sown now will produce spring greens in March and April, when they can be cut and then left to resprout.

Scottish Gardener:

Onions
If you want to grow onions from seed then get them in the ground now and cover them with fleece as they grow. In colder areas, wait until after Christmas and sow them in the greenhouse.

Scottish Gardener:

Spinach
Sow a winter variety now and then again in a couple of weeks and you’ll have fresh leaves from October until April. Summer varieties like to grow in dappled shade, but for later-sown spinach,  sunnier spot is better.

Scottish Gardener:

Radishes
There’s just enough time to sow winter radishes. These are bigger and have a stronger taste than summer varieties which makes them perfect for using in stir-fries.

Scottish Gardener:

Lettuce
If you’ve got a polytunnel or cold greenhouse then make the most of it by sowing some winter-hardy lettuce that will be ready for eating in spring. Winter Gem and Winter Density are two varieties that can cope with low temperatures.

Scottish Gardener:

Spring Cabbage
Now is the right time to sow spring cabbage. Choose a variety such as ‘Durham Early’ or ‘April’ and don’t add fertiliser before planting. Spring cabbages need to be grown slowly to produce the best results.

Scottish Gardener:

Pea Shoots
Sow these outdoors now and then in the greenhouse or even on a windowsill, as the days grow shorter for a continuous supply of tasty greens. Just fill a shallow tray, spread a layer of peas quick thickly over the surface, cover with a thin layer of compost and water Cut the shoots when they are about 20cm high and then cut again when they have regrown.