overwintering question

just a quick question to ask for reccomendations for what to overwinter in my plot.
ill put some details in to see how it affects my rotation, i tend to try a rotation of light feeder (e.g. carrot)>heavy feeder (e.g. brassica)>heavy giver (e.g. peas) without planting the same species twice in a row.
its never been explained to me how crops growing over winter fit into this rotation, presumably they do just the same as consecutive summer crops.

I have two raised beds, on in 4 rows, the other open.

bed 1:
A: lettuce and leeks

B: Carrots, beetroot

C: peas and brocolli interplanted

D: onions

Bed 2:

beans
some bolted broccoli
a rhubarb

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I am looking to plant crops that I won't need to spend a great deal of time attending to.

usually i seem to see reccomended that peas and similar legumes go in over winter, or a 'green manure'. does anyone have any comment on this?

i am wary about planting peas as i feel the highly nitrogenous bed they left behind last year has caused my onions to grow great stalks but not necessarily large bulbs.

thanks in advance for all your help.

Dx

 

When I used to have a large traditional veg plot, I planted late leeks, savoy cabbages, kale, broccoli and sprouts for use during the winter. These were pretty reliable and suited the eating preferences of the family then. I had all the space I wanted.

But now I only grow veg in two small raised beds totalling 7.2 sqm. I work them hard and they need to rest a bit during the winter. Also, they get no direct sun during the winter months.

Are your beds in a good position for winter crops i.e. good light levels? Have you got enough space for overwintering? Will it compromise your autumn/early spring soil prep programme?

Don't feel guilty if growing late crops is not really practical for you!

 

I use yellow mustard as ground cover in the winter, you can eat the leaves as salad too. It holds nutrients that could be washed out by winter rains. Some would dig it in in the spring but I recon that would rob the ground of nitrogen so I compost it or make a liquid feed out of it.