Go For Fast and Filling Greens, to Save $$

For gardeners focused on producing food, we’ve rounded up our favourite vegetable options…these are the best choices to mature quickly and add heft to hearty winter meals.

For maximum economy, growing from seed (rather than buying seedlings) is the classic low-cost, high-reward method. A single packet of seed can often produce hundreds of plants. In contrast, buying punnets of seedlings quickly adds up, especially for staple crops like spinach or leafy greens that you’ll use regularly in meals. Seedlings also take time to get over transplant stress and get established, so if they’re planted out late (or if they’ve reached a large size) they’re more likely to struggle when the weather turns cold.

Yates Radish 'French Breakfast'

Even if you don’t have the space to grow 400 cabbages, you can still make savings; check out our Yates Small Gardens Seeds range. With limited space, it makes sense to have high standards for the seed you’re using. Our goal was to make high-quality seed accessible at a sharp price, so these packets deliver just what you need for a small garden, with nothing going to waste. The seed selection is curated for compact, space-saving growth, while still delivering great yields. Plus, these seeds are perfect when you want to try out something you haven’t grown before, to save paying for a large packet.

Here's a selection of autumn favourites from the range:

Growing from seed gives you more flexibility, because you can sow a small patch each week, to extend the length of your harvest season. This delivers a constant trickle of fresh vegies, which keeps pace with your kitchen requirements: each time you harvest, the following batch will be almost ready. You’re in charge, so you can even shortcut the process to sneak out a few baby vegetables to eat, leaving the rest to mature.

Yates Spinach 'Baby Leaf'

Sow in Autumn, Harvest in Winter

Autumn is a highly productive season for sowing and growing vegetables. With warmth remaining in the soil, reliable moisture, and fewer pests than summer, vegetables can get off to a great start before frosty weather arrives to slow things down.

Most regions in New Zealand enjoy mild temperatures that support strong growth, well into May. It’s not as easy in colder areas, but using frost protection like cloches or frost cloth can keep Southern vegie gardens in growth mode until the end of April. After that, there’s a short window where you can get hardy vegies like bok choy, spinach or kale started before winter bites.

By choosing hardy season-appropriate vegies, you can extend the growing season right through winter and into early spring. 

Yates Lamb's Lettuce, aka Mâche

Easy Options for Leafy Greens

Leafy crops offer exceptional value for money. They grow fast, they don’t need much space and if you keep picking, they’ll keep producing new leaves.

• Baby leaf spinach germinates quickly and is ready to harvest in 4-5 weeks.
• A supply of picking lettuce always comes in handy. You can start picking Yates ‘Cut & Come Again’ Lettuce from about 6 weeks. Or, if you like lots of variety, try our old favourite Yates ‘Salad Mix’ Lettuce, which includes cos, mignonette, buttercrunch and iceberg lettuce.
• Tatsoi is a tangy, cold-tolerant alternative to spinach that matures in about 7 weeks. Delicious in salads, lightly steamed or sautéed.
• Silverbeet is slower to get established but extremely productive, providing large, nutritious leaves for months, from just a few plants. There's no need for silverbeet to be dull, either...try Yates Silverbeet 'Bright Lights' for a vibrant colour explosion.
• Lamb’s Lettuce is a great option for the coldest winter zone gardens – it’s a super-hardy green, tasty and versatile.

Yates Gai Lan, aka Chinese Broccoli...delicious!

Fast, Hardy Brassicas

Brassicas are the A-list stars of the winter garden. They can grow surprisingly quickly when sown in autumn and they’re substantial, filling choices. These are the fastest options:

• Bok choy, easy to grow and ready to harvest in as little as 6 weeks, is incredibly versatile. It adds backbone to stir-fries or a finishing touch to noodle soups. It’s mouth-watering steamed, briefly simmered in broth, or served over rice.
• Succulent gai lan and choy sum take longer to mature (8-10 weeks), but they make up for it by only taking a couple of minutes to cook. They’re both delightful stir-fried with fragrant garlic or ginger, or you can steam them and drizzle with a touch of oyster sauce. They’re equally brilliant on their own as a side dish, or filling out a ‘one-pot’ meal.
• Sprouting broccoli takes 10-12 weeks to full maturity but continues to provide slender new side shoots after you first cut it. Yates Sprouting Broccoli ‘Sticcoli’ is uniquely sweet (it’s a bit special, being a clever hybrid of standard broccoli and gai lan).
• Kale is already producing nutrient-dense baby leaves at the 7-week mark, you don’t need to wait for full maturity to start picking it.

Yates Kohlrabi 'Green Duke'

Hearty Root Vegetables

Root crops thrive in cooling soil and store well even if you leave them in the ground. Also, did you know that cold overnight temperatures improve the sweetness of many root vegetables?

• Radishes are the classic quick crop, often ready in as little as 4 weeks. Have you ever tried them roasted, or added to a casserole? Delicious.
• Baby beets grow rapidly, offering both roots and edible leafy tops within 6-8 weeks.
• Diced kohlrabi adds body to a hearty winter meal, staying firm to the bite just like carrots or parsnips.
• Turnips and daikon radishes bulk up quickly and add weight to winter meals.
• Carrots sown early in autumn take longer to mature over the winter (3-4 months), but they’ll taste sweeter to help make up for it!

Yates Daikon Radish

Other Favourites to Get Through Winter

• Spring onions sown in autumn grow steadily through winter. They’re a delicious addition to almost any dish, so it’s very handy to have a fresh supply.
• In warmer regions, dwarf peas sown in early autumn can add protein to meals, as well as improving garden soil fertility!

Yates Dwarf Peas 'Sugarsnap'

Pro Tips for Success:

• Sow directly into well-prepared soil, while it retains summer warmth.
• Keep soil consistently moist, until seedlings are well established.
• Mulch with pea straw to hold on to soil warmth, plus reduce water splashing up from soil (this is how many fungal diseases spread).
• Many autumn vegetables will regrow after cutting, so one plant can provide multiple meals. Sprouting broccoli, spinach, lettuce and spring onions are examples.
• Store leftover seed in a cool, dry place (inside a paper envelope, sealed into a plastic lunch container is ideal) and use it next season to make it go even further.