Try new veggies this winter

EASY: ALL THEY NEED IS FULL SUN AND GOOD SOIL

- Alice Spenser-Higgs

How about taking a break from the usual winter veggies? No need to dutifully chomp your way through cabbage and cauliflower when there are more interesting veggies to grow.

Winter veggies can still be sown in early April so that they are established by the time the first frost arrives at the end of May, if it does indeed arrive owing to the unpredictability of the weather.

Nevertheless, stock up on frost cloth to protect tender seedlings if frost is predicted.

Some of the more unusual veggies to consider are Broccoli Raap Spring Rapini, Beetroot Red and Gold, Pak choi, Spinach Bloomsdale, Kale Dinosaur, and Kohlrabi White Vienna.

What all winter veggies need is a position that receives full sun, and fertile soil that has had plenty of compost mixed in.

Broccoli with a difference Spring Rapini (also known as Broccoli Raap) grows the same way as green sprouting broccoli although its leaves look a bit like turnip greens.