What to sow in October

Download list (PDF format)

As the harvest comes to an end, it’s time to think about over-wintering and indoor crops

Outside

  • Plant autumn varieties of garlic, shallot and onion sets
  • Sow round seeded peas (especially dwarf varieties that can be protected with a cloche or cover)
  • Broad beans
  • Corn salad and hardy winter varieties of Lettuce
  • Green manure on empty beds and plots

Under Cover

  • Early-summer cropping cauliflower in a cold frame
  • Salad leaves
  • Salad onions
  • Radish
  • Oriental vegetables: Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, pak choi

On the Windowsill

  • Salad mixes
  • Herbs: basil, dill, chives, parsley
  • Sprouting seeds and Microgreens
  • Pea shoots and Kale shoots

Related resources

Grow Your Own Vegetables

Excellent book on growing vegetables with sections on techniques, a directory of vegetables, seasonal guide to jobs, and appendices on veg for the hungry gap, successional sowing and more.

How to create a New Vegetable Garden

Charles Dowding draws on his years of experience, to show how easy it is to start a new vegetable garden. Any plot -- whether a building site, overgrown with weeds or unwanted lawn -- can be turned into a beautiful and productive vegetable area. Charles's no-nonsense and straightforward advice is the perfect starting point for the beginner or experienced gardener. The book takes you step-by-step through: * Planning and early stages * Clearing the ground * Mulch - what, why, how? * Minimizing digging * Sowing and planting across the seasons * Growing in polytunnels and greenhouses It is filled with labour-saving ideas and the techniques that Charles uses to garden so successfully, and is illustrated throughout with photos and tales from Charles's first year in his new vegetable garden.

Organic Gardening The Natural No-Dig Way

A very helpful book about growing fruit and vegetables organically and without digging.

RFGN Guide to Growing Beetroot

The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing beetroot.

Download: RFGN Guide to Growing Beetroot (PDF format)

RFGN Guide to Growing French Beans

The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing French beans, both climbing and dwarf.

Download: RFGN Guide to Growing French Beans (PDF format)

RFGN Guide to Growing Onions

The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing onions.

Download: RFGN Guide to Growing Onions (PDF format)

RFGN Guide to Growing Radishes

The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing radishes.

Download: RFGN Guide to Growing Radishes (PDF format)

RFGN Guide to Growing Salad Leaves

The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing salad leaves, including rocket.

Download: RFGN Guide to Growing Salad Leaves (PDF format)

RFGN Guide to Growing Squash

The Reading Food Growing Network guide to growing squash.

Download: RFGN Guide to Growing Squash (PDF format)

Seed sowing techniques

Advice from the Royal Horticultural Society about how to sow seeds

Seed Viability Chart

Temperate Climate Permaculture's chart of seed viability times for the most common seeds used in gardens and farms