[Fleecewife]

So Therese Coffey suggests TURNIP is a suitable alternative to the tomatoes, cucumbers and other fresh produce which is failing to reach the UK. It does make me wonder which century she lives in 


Given the small scale and financial restraints most of us farm under which does not allow us to grow in large heated and lit greenhouse or polytunnel systems, what does everyone do for winter healthy veg and salad?


I grow brassicas which usually do well in our winters, crops such as sprouts, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Kale, kale and kale  , also leeks.  I freeze lots of produce such as peas and beans (various) in the summer when I have plenty.  I store crops such as apples, onions etc and potatoes (also beetroot and carrots if I've grown enough).  I make many pots of chutney full of a wide variety of home grown produce. All these are great but only the brassicas and leeks are fresh.  So I grow sprouting seeds such as mung beans, alfalfa, sprouting radish and many more, as well as shoots grown in trays such as mustard and cress.  These provide all the goodness saved by the seeds, plus some fresh greenery.


What else does everyone else grow and eat in the winter in the absence of imported salads?

[chrismahon]

I've seen this reported but haven't yet seen any explanation. Of course these are seasonal veg out of season so perhaps a return to the food of my childhood- salted beans and potatoes? We used to eat a lot of curries, due no doubt to my Indian ancestry.


The European suppliers don't want the paperwork of exporting to the UK, especially with shortages here and an easier market, so unless the UK can produce it's own food, habits will need to change.


Most of our veg now comes from Spain, but with an impending drought who knows what anyone will be able to grow?

[harmony]

The OH was talking to someone in our local yesterday who supplies fruit and veg to supermarkets. He said exactly the same about the difficult paperwork demands since Brexit. Also producers here and abroad have been turning off greenhouse heating because of cost. That is pushing up the prices of what is available.

[Fleecewife]

I'm really wanting to know what you are growing as salads during winter to early spring when such crops are not usually available home grown, rather than discussing why veg isn't coming to us from overseas.


I forgot to mention my 'choppy-uppy' salad:  Chop everything such as celery, including any leaves, apple with the skin on unless like me you choke on it , satsumas, a little hard cabbage, grated carrot (again as long as you don't choke on it  ), the green shoots from onions which have sprouted in storage, shallots, tinned sweetcorn or frozen if you have it, various seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame, sultanas, chilli from the freezer or a shake of powdered chilli, any fresh or frozen herbs you have, all mixed together with lemon juice and either plain yoghurt or salad cream, mayonnaise if you like it. This is a lovely crunchy, tasty salad to brighten up a winter's day and to eat by the small bowlful 


I have just sent off for more winter salads seeds from 'Real Seeds' who have some unusual crops, probably too late for this year but I'll be ready for the repeat performance next year.

[SallyintNorth]

We have Cornwall Microgreens on site, so are blessed with rocket fuel baby greens year round.  We generate a lot of our own electricity, thank goodness.

Thinking back to my solo gardening days, one of the winter crops I adored was winter savory.  It's a tiny leaf but packs a lot of flavour.  Nothing better to pep up an omelette or scrambled eggs, but also adds a lovely edge to any salad.  Other perennial herbs can go in the salad too - rosemary, sage, thyme, lavendar for instance.  They don't add much bulk but a lot of interest, both colour and flavour.

As to winter salads generally, I add onion, carrot and beetroot anyway, and if short on bulk then yes, I use cabbage and apple too.  And if you grate carrot, beetroot and swede / turnip together, it's nutritious, tasty and bulky.  Mix some apple and raisins in, with a dressing if that's your style.

I've been known to use grated courgette to replace cucumber when cucumbers are in short supply, tinned (or frozen/thawed) sweetcorn to add variety in texture and colour, a sprinkle of seeds, nuts and raisins/sultanas, chard stems are a great replacement for celery and will keep growing for a lot of the year in a polytunnel, leaf beet and spinach have a long season too under cover, if kept picked and pruned so they don't get to flower.  (Obvs we get longer growing seasons in Cornwall than you'll get north of the border.)  A pot of basil on an indoors windowsill adds leaf, colour and flavour. 

That last has had me wondering whether a very small indoor plant nursery could provide salad greens year round...     Or even do your own micrgreens (on a small scale) in the kitchen... 

Oh!  And of course, sprouting seeds/beans.  A fantastic salad ingredient, easy to make enough for plenty salads for a household in a sprouter in the kitchen.  I'd forgotten about them, I used to eat loads of sprouted things year round before I lived alongside Microgreens.

[Fleecewife]

I don't have much luck keeping herbs going over winter and most are quite disappointing when frozen.  I fill my choppy-uppy salad with fresh herbs. Chives are already a few inches tall even here in Scotland, but I haven't ever managed to keep enough going all winter for how much I need to use. I should work out how to do that 
Yes I use grated courgette in summer too, but no help in winter.


I'm currently concentrating on growing a bit of everything which might grow some greenery, including sprouted seeds and microgreens, I started radishes in a cold frame a month ago, with winter leaves and spring onions.  They're all up but they won't be edible for several weeks yet.


We're so high that we're at the limit for growing apples - we get some but not bucketloads and they don't keep all that long, not long enough to be crispy in salads all winter.  I wonder about those big winter radishes for next year?


I'll keep on experimenting 

[Rosemary]

Never eaten a sald in winter. Spuds, carrots, turnip, sprouts, cabbage.

[Fleecewife]

Never eaten a sald in winter. Spuds, carrots, turnip, sprouts, cabbage.

Truly [member=13]Rosemary[/member]?  but then you are through and through Scottish 

I'm certain that Scots folk in years gone by, those who lived in the countryside, would have made full use of what was available in the local area to prevent scurvy and general illnesses in winter.  Stinging nettles come through early up here and are a wonderful post-winter cleanser and welcome bit of green after lent (whenever that is) as long as they are cooked or beaten so they no longer sting.
Rosemary, try some of the sprouting seeds and microgreens you can grow on the windowsill and you'll love them.
Anyone can be miserable, but unlike folk who had NO access to greens in winter so had no options, people with imagination can make themselves well and well-fed with a little planning.
It was the native Americans who cottoned onto the value of sprouted grains to get them through the very long American winters, so there's no shame in learning from them.  City-living Scots perforce ate an unhealthy diet, with no alternatives available so they ate stodge to keep themselves alive. This doesn't mean you're being disloyal to that sad history by providing yourself with some winter vitamins and cheer!  My hubby grew up the same as so many Scots, with no green veg beyond peas, and he was so delighted to be introduced to a whole range of fruit and veg when he met me.  The situation back then was that there were very few greengrocery items available even in Edinburgh so when we found a small shop selling PSB we were hooked.  But for everything else we had to grow our own from the start, in a tiny garden in deepest, fledgeling Livingston!
I don't believe you and Dan don't eat Purple Sprouting Broccoli in Winter and Spring 

[PK]

Every winter in the greenhouse I grow Little Gem lettuce, pak choi, and tatsoi. This winter, also Chinese cabbage. They grow well enough to keep us in fresh salad and stir fry greens from November to March (I sow early September), picking enough leaves from different plants for a meal at a time. They are hardy enough. With a Chinese wife, most of our meals are Orientally-inclined so this is regular pickings not just token samples.

[Fleecewife]

Every winter in the greenhouse I grow Little Gem lettuce, pak choi, and tatsoi. This winter, also Chinese cabbage. They grow well enough to keep us in fresh salad and stir fry greens from November to March (I sow early September), picking enough leaves from different plants for a meal at a time. They are hardy enough. With a Chinese wife, most of our meals are Orientally-inclined so this is regular pickings not just token samples.

I love Chinese cabbage but the slugs here love it more 

[sabrina]

I lost my pollytunnel in the November storm 2021 and this year my small summer house went last week. Due to the weather we now get most winters  replacing is not going to happen. Here it is too cold and wet for winter growing, we have clay soil that this winter has been so water logged that the paddocks have had water lying on top of the grass for weeks. I do an online shop with Asda every week and now again would order salad stuff just for a change but they did not have last week. We had a trip out to Fraserburgh on Friday to fill up the car which we do once a month. ( don't go out much ) When there we go to Lidil and stock up on tinned food. They had loads of salad stuff, fruit and veg so maybe it is more down to the supermarkets not paying enough for the farmers prduce than a shortage. We are seeing more and more good farming land getting planted with trees when we should be doing more to feed the people of this country. If god forbid there is another war we could starve ! Buying Scottish winter veg has always been on our diet but if it is not grown what then. ?

[Rosemary]

Never eaten a sald in winter. Spuds, carrots, turnip, sprouts, cabbage.

Truly [member=13]Rosemary[/member]?  but then you are through and through Scottish 


I don't believe you and Dan don't eat Purple Sprouting Broccoli in Winter and Spring 

Yep, do eat PSB. But I don't feel like I'm missing out by not eating slald in winter. It's no natural tae eat lettuce in the winter. 

[doganjo]

Quite agree [member=13]Rosemary[/member] .  Rabbit food is fine for summer but not when it's not supposed to be growing.
I'm not fond of vegetables at all but I'll eat tatties, beetroot, Sprouts, and neaps, but Kale makes me boak!

[Fleecewife]

I lost my pollytunnel in the November storm 2021 and this year my small summer house went last week. Due to the weather we now get most winters  replacing is not going to happen. Here it is too cold and wet for winter growing, we have clay soil that this winter has been so water logged that the paddocks have had water lying on top of the grass for weeks. I do an online shop with Asda every week and now again would order salad stuff just for a change but they did not have last week. We had a trip out to Fraserburgh on Friday to fill up the car which we do once a month. ( don't go out much ) When there we go to Lidil and stock up on tinned food. They had loads of salad stuff, fruit and veg so maybe it is more down to the supermarkets not paying enough for the farmers prduce than a shortage. We are seeing more and more good farming land getting planted with trees when we should be doing more to feed the people of this country. If god forbid there is another war we could starve ! Buying Scottish winter veg has always been on our diet but if it is not grown what then. ?

What a shame about the polytunnel and greenhouse Sabrina, a tunnel does make it easier to grow winter crops.  For the past few years mine has housed my hens but with not having to house them so far this year I am able to start summer crops early.  The reason I mentioned sprouted seeds and microgreens is because they are so quick and easier to grow and provide fresh vitamins and taste for a winter treat.

[Fleecewife]

Quite agree [member=13]Rosemary[/member] .  Rabbit food is fine for summer but not when it's not supposed to be growing.
I'm not fond of vegetables at all but I'll eat tatties, beetroot, Sprouts, and neaps, but Kale makes me boak!

You're not growing or cooking kale properly if it makes you boak.  It's the young fresh green shoots you pick and they are delicious.
I first came to Scotland in 1969 as a nurse, working in the cities.  I was amazed at how small, pale and hard-faced the children and women were, on their diet of tatties, especially in Glasgow. I think that was made worse by the lack of good fresh food.  It's not so blindingly obvious now as many people try fruit and veg from supermarkets and get their children used to it.  What a shame you haven't learnt to eat these foods which are so good for you.
The upside is you won't be bothered by any shortages