PLOT LINES

AUTUMN CAN SOMETIMES BE A GOOD TIME TO GET SOWING, BUT NOT FOR EVERYTHING. TIM FOSTER GIVES US HIS TIPS ON WHAT TO TRY AND WHAT TO AVOID AT THIS TIME OF YEAR

- WITH TIM FOSTER

THE second half of the year is not what you might call peak propagation time. Still, there is a handful of crops which you might contemplate putting in around now. Most are repeats of crops we grow in a greater quantity in the spring so perhaps the opening question is 'Why bother?! Well, it'll have to be your decision, but with some of them I wouldn't. Bother, that is. Let us stroll through them one-by-one and give a rating out of ten: effort versus result.

Onions 6/10

You only need a few overwintering onions, which can go in right now, so don't overdo it. The idea is that these will be ready in June (or earlier if you're OK with fresh, green onions) and therefore will bridge the gap between last year's stored onions and the start of the main 2026 crop. Why only six out of ten? They're not always that successful - last winter we lost about half the crop. Also, they can be marginally more prone to bolting.

Broad Beans 4/10