| Spring |
| Time to sow seeds/seedlings |
Start thinking about what tomato vines you want this year. Plant a cucumber or even try some more adventurous perennial vegetables that give year in, year out, like asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes. Both Jerusalem and Globe artichokes need to get planted now. In the herb garden, cut back bushy herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage, and plant frost sensitive herbs like basil after the cold has finished in your area. |
| Time to feed |
Spring is the hungriest month for the kitchen garden, a time when nut trees, tropical fruits, berries and, as always, citrus can do with a dose of manure. |
Watch for
|
Peach Leaf Curl. Spray copper oxychloride onto peaches and nectarines at budswell to prevent them from getting peach curl. Be vigilant watching for snails and caterpillars munching on new growth. |
| Tip |
If you have spent pea plants, don’t waste them either. Digging the vines back into the ground is a great way of adding both nitrogen and organic matter to the soil. |
| Winter |
| Time to sow seeds/seedlings |
Spring onions, radishes, beetroot and carrots. A crop of lettuce is easy over winter in either the patch or a planter box. Broad beans can still be planted in temperate climates and are fabulous fresh…you can even eat the new shoots raw or tossed into a risotto…they’re delicious. |
| Time to plant |
Asparagus crowns and rhubarb crowns. Citrus trees can be planted in winter…do you have a kaffir lime for your Asian curries? Or a mandarin for the kids? |
| Watch for |
Scale and fungus. Both of which can be treated safely now with winter oil on your citrus and deciduous fruit trees. |
| Tip |
Bare rooted trees like stone and some fruit, brambles and berries and grape vines can all be purchased mail order or from nurseries much more reasonably priced over winter. |
| Autumn |
| Time to sow seeds/seedlings |
Bok Choy, Broccoli, Broad Beans, Chinese cabbage, Carrot, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lettuce, Onions, Radish, Peas, Spinach. |
| Cover |
Soft fruit like paw paws, persimmons and tamarillos fruit with netting to protect from birds. Watch your apples and pears too. |
| Tip |
Allow some of your summer veggies to go to seed so you can collect these for the following years crop. |
| Summer |
| Time to sow seeds/seedlings |
French Beans, Beetroot, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Capsicum, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Corn, Celery, Leek, Lettuce, Melons, Pumpkin, Silver Beets, Tomato, Zucchini. |
| Watch for |
Fruit fly on ripening stone fruit and tropical fruit like guava. Figs too are prone to attack. Cover fruit with netting to protect from birds. |
| Tip |
Deep watering over summer will help your developing crops, like citrus, hold onto the tree. Irregular watering can cause fruit to drop prematurely. |
