With the arrival of October, you can look forward to next year’s harvests by sowing some tasty vegetables now.
This can be a chilly time for seedlings, so be prepared to protect your sowings in a cold frame or greenhouse. For quick tips on frost protection, take a look at our advice on quick ways to protect plants.
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Discover five vegetable seeds to sow in October, below.
Peas
For an early crop of tasty peas, sow overwintering cultivars like ‘Avola’, in a sheltered spot. Watch out for mice and consider bought or homemade cloches to provide extra protection.
Salad mixes
Salad mixes are one of easiest crops to grow. Sown in autumn, they’ll grow quickly to provide fresh pickings. If growing outside, protect them with a sturdy cloche. They’re ideal for pots and containers on the windowsill, too. Here’s how to create your own salad mix to sow.
Lettuce
At this time of year, you can be making successional sowings of hardy lettuces. At this point, you want to begin sowing overwintering varieties like ‘Winter Gem’ outdoors. Take a look at more of the best space-saving veg crops.
Buy Lettuce at Crocus from £1.89
Broad beans
You can boost next year’s harvest of broad beans by sowing some in October and November, in addition to winter and spring sowings. Here’s Monty Don’s advice on how to sow broad beans.
Buy Broad beans at Crocus from £2.49
Cauliflower
Early-summer cropping cauliflower cultivars like ‘Snowball’ can be sown now in cold frames to overwinter. Here’s how to plant out cauliflowers in spring, when the time arrives.
Buy Caulifower at Crocus from £1.99
