Safe to plant winter veg?

Sorry this is a longish read! > New to veg gardening this year, I am about to order a batch of winter veg. plants. Is it safe to put them in now? (i.e. before the end of September) or will there be bugs to devour them? Will insects that eat veg plants still be active? I lost a crop of caulis and sprouts to caterpillars and I don't intend to give them dessert!
I'm also erecting a veg cage. Are there any veg which really need protecting from bugs (or birds) during the autumn? The cage won't be big enough for all. Veg in the pack will include kale, cabbage, spinach, chard, spring onions, beetroot, turnip, calabrese and winter lettuce. I have had a lot of help from GC in my efforts this season - many thanks, all. :thumb: Hope I can give back whenever possible.
Lindy

 

well my caterpillars are still going strong, you just have to put up and get rid of them!

 

Lindy

If you can't protect all your veg, then I would give priority to the brassicas and the lettuce. The reason is that pigeons love green veg at any time of the year and will strip them to the ground. They might also have a go at the tops of your root veg so it's worth hanging a few CDs or bird scarers over them. Also watch out for slugs and snails which will remain active unless it gets really cold. Down here, we have very mild winters and pests don't seem to die off like they used to.