The vegetable garden: what & when to plant

What grows in the comarca

The mild, wet climate and acidic soils shape the Galician garden. Typical crops: grelos and nabizas (turnip greens), potatoes (cachelos), cabbage, maize, beans (fabas), onion and garlic, tomato and pepper, lettuce, and fruit such as apple and kiwi. Much of the land is pasture for dairy cattle.

Orientative calendar

• Spring (Mar-May): sow or plant tomato, pepper, lettuce, onion, beans and potatoes.
• Summer (Jun-Aug): harvest tomato, beans and early potatoes; water and watch for pests.
• Autumn (Sep-Nov): sow grelos and nabizas, garlic and winter beans; harvest maize, apples and chestnuts.
• Winter (Dec-Feb): harvest grelos and cabbage; prune fruit trees and plan the season.

Tips for the Atlantic climate

• Soils are usually acidic: liming now and then helps many vegetables.
• Shelter from the north-west wind with hedges or netting.
• Rotate crops and use compost to build organic matter.

Fruit trees of the comarca

Alongside the garden, Atlantic fruit trees thrive: apple (the base of cider), fig, plum, walnut and kiwi, which does very well in Galicia. The chestnut gives the autumn harvest. Many plots mix vegetables, fruit trees and vines on the same finca.

Storing the harvest

Galician tradition knows how to keep food: potatoes in a cool dark place, onions and garlic braided and hung, dried beans in jars, and fruit as compote or liqueur. Making the most of the harvest is part of the garden's culture.

Chestnuts and the souto

From October to November the chestnut ripens in the soutos (chestnut groves). For centuries the chestnut was a staple of rural Galicia, even before the potato. They're gathered from the ground, inside their spiny husk (ourizo).

The magosto

The magosto is the chestnut festival, around 1 November (Samaín) and San Martiño (11 November). Chestnuts are roasted on a bonfire, the new wine or must is tasted, and people gather round the fire. Many councils and schools hold their magosto.

Mushroom season

After the autumn rains, mushrooms appear in the woods and meadows. It's a treasured tradition — but some deadly species look much like edible ones.

Samaín, the old Galician Halloween

Long before Halloween arrived, Galicia celebrated Samaín, the night of 31 October to 1 November when the dead were remembered. Pumpkins were hollowed out with candles and scary stories told. The tradition is being revived strongly in the comarca's festivals and schools.

Chestnuts in the kitchen

Beyond roasting at the magosto, chestnuts are eaten boiled, as purée, with milk, or alongside meat and game. Once, ground into flour, they were bread and winter sustenance. Marron glacé is their sweetest form.

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