Late autumn: what is still worth sowing

Notes · season 4

Cold nights arrive before the first frost, and a south-facing balcony stays a few degrees warmer than the street. That margin is enough for a last round of quick leaves.

Still worth it

• Lamb's lettuce: sow thinly, it shrugs off light frost.
• Winter purslane: happy in a shallow trough by the wall.
• Garlic: one clove every ten centimetres, deep pots only.

Better left for spring

Anything that needs warm soil to germinate. The seed will sit there and rot before it wakes up.

Watering less in the cold months

Notes · season 4

Pots dry slowly once the sun drops lower. Check the soil a finger deep before watering; wet roots in cold compost are the usual way balcony plants are lost in winter.