With such an exciting season ahead allowing for new plantings of salad greens & vegetables, the vegetable garden will however see some of your Winter plantings coming to an end whilst others continue to keep on producing.  Feed Winter plantings like cabbage, zucchini, squash, capsicum, beans and salad/Asian greens now to prolong their productivity and remember to protect the cabbage family of plantings from the Cabbage Moth which will become more prevalent in some regions of Australia now the weather is warmer.

Hopefully you have prepared your soil in available areas, ready for new crops and applied a fresh layer of sugar cane mulch to ensure low levels of water evaporation from the soil.  Homemade compost or mushroom compost is fantastic at retaining moisture within the soil along with providing valuable nutrients.  If you are composting your kitchen scraps then wait to see what germinates from the compost you add to your veggie garden and replant the stronger seedlings into an appropriate spot within your patch.

Essentially once the nights warm up in your garden then it’s time to plant new seeds or seedlings whichever you prefer.  The layout of your plantings is important ensuring delicate plants can be protected as a group by some form of shade through the blistering days of Summer.  Providing protection from the afternoon sun may be essential at your place and ultimately will not affect productivity of some plantings due to the reduction of full sun hours.  Maybe you would like to grow some snow peas this year which will see the need for a trellis of sorts which when placed to the west of your productive garden will provide the needed dappled shade in the afternoons.  It could also be utilized for passion fruit, beans or consider growing your squash plants vertically.

This is where you can be creative and utilize recycled materials to provide the much-needed support climbing plants of this nature require.  Old fencing wire, sections of pool fencing or freshly cut bamboo with wire supports will all work wonderfully and reduce the impact on landfill and our environment.

Organic productive growing is so rewarding and good for your health, if you haven’t started then now is the time to dig in & give it a go!

Don’t know where to start?

Our Vegetable Garden eBooklet takes you from layout to harvest.  We’ve done all the hard work for you!