What to grow in winter

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_custom_heading text="What to grow in winter" font_container="tag:h2|font_size:40|text_align:left" google_fonts="font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal"][vc_column_text]JULY 2015 | Nell Carr

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LETTUCE ARE so hardy that there is not a month in the year when lettuce cannot be sown.

The big hearted iceberg types have gone out of fashion in favour of the non-hearting leafy varieties which can be harvested a few leaves at a time.

The hard white frosts the district has been experiencing in June have had no effect - especially on the red leaved varieties, such as “Red Oak Leaf”, and “Red Coral” They grow more slowly in the cold weather, but a few leaves add some colour to winter salads.

These moisture-loving plants should not need water during the winter months, unless they have been planted in raised boxes or tubs.

An added bonus is that they alone, of all the edible plants in the garden, have not been attacked by possums, which seem to have been particularly voracious this winter, even eating previously ignored young broad bean shoots.

Turnips may be sown in July. The sweet white purple top variety is delicious as a vegetable, or in stews and soup or grated raw in salads.

EUROPEAN WASP’S NEST ON SHOWVisitors to Launceston city could take advantage of the free shuttle buses to visit the Queen Victoria museum at Inveresk to see the huge nest of these pests. It is a remarkable example of nature’s industry and artistry.