Winter greenhouse bounty Plant up winter veg

Keep your greenhouse fully stocked up with tasty salads and veg. In the second of our three-part series, Lucy Chamberlain reveals the crops to grow now

- Lucy Chamberlain

Summer greenhouse crops may be coming to an end, but that's no excuse to let your greenhouse stand empty over winter. October is the perfect time to plant up hardy crops that will give tasty pickings throughout the leaner winter months and well into spring. From spicy salad leaves and buttery lettuce to stalwart spinach and vitamin-packed kales, now is the time to reinvent your winter greenhouse space into a powerhouse that's packed with delicious and nutritious leafy edibles.

Last month, we explained that it's getting a bit late to sow these hardy edibles, but if you didn't get round to sowing them, don't worry. These days, garden centres and mail-order seed companies sell a huge range of plug plants that will fill the gap, helping you to get well on your way to winter self-sufficiency.

Harvest the last summer crops

Come October, days shorten and nighttime temperatures fall, so it's time to ditch your summer crops. Salvage what you can by cutting off tomato trusses, mature melons and all cucumber fruits, young and mature. Lay tomatoes on a slatted tray placed somewhere sunny and warm so they can ripen (melons will ripen here, too). Cucumbers will last in the fridge for well over a week.

Next, cut the plants into sections and pull up the roots, removing all traces of growth from the greenhouse. You can shred healthy plant parts and add them to the compost heap.

Best plants to grow from plugs

• Kale
• Lettuce
• Annual spinach
• Swiss chard
• Rocket
• Endive
• Mustard

Prepare borders for growing