LATE SPRING 

Time to get BUSY!!

October is the time to really get
the summer vegetable garden on the move.

Sow these veggies:    Asian greens, beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery and celeriac,  cucumber, lettuce, leeks, mustards, parsnip, peas, silverbeet, tomatoes, rockmelon, pumpkin, sweet corn, watermelon, zucchini 
                          Just about everything in fact!
Seeds of summer veggies will germinate more quickly if sown under under glass or in a cloche to keep them warm.                               

          


.

 Sow these herbs:
coriander, dill, parsley, rocket. 

Plant: 
Potatoes
Seedlings - tomatoes - grow in pots until the frosts have past.  refer to the planting guides for your area.
Choose varieties of rockmelon, watermelon and pumpkin,  that have short maturing times.  Try Sweet Granite rockmelon, Sweet Siberian watermelon and Butternut pumpkin.

Get seeds and seedlings off to a quick start by sowing and growing up under glass or in a cloche.

Prepare garden beds well in advance with layers of manure and pea straw. For fruiting plants like tomatoes and zucchini, add some potassium in the form of wood ash or potassium sulphate. Not too much: it's easier to add a bit more if needed than to get rid of an excess.


Mulch the entire garden while the soil is still damp. If you can get a supply of woodchips, use those and if your plant into the woodchip, create a furrow fill with compost and plant into the furrow pulling the chip up and around the seedlings as they get bigger. 

And don't forget the flowers!

A diverse array of plants will attract a diverse population of insects and help create a balanced garden habitat with fewer pest problems. 
Many flowers are edible and make for lovely bright salads. 
Try nasturtiums, calendula, borage, heart's-ease and other pansies, as well as flowers from herbs such as coriander and rosemary, and flowers of broccoli, kale, rocket or mustard. 
                                                                                   (Always check before eating flowers you are not sure of.)

​

NOVEMBER

​ Throughout November keep planting out seeds or seedlings for summer vegetables.

                                                  
Sow these vegetables now: 
​Asian greens, beans, beetroot, broccoli, some cabbage varieties -  check the seed packet), Chinese cabbage, celeriac, celery, cucumber, leek, lettuce, mustards, parsnip, pumpkin, radish, silverbeet, squash, sweet corn, zucchini.

Plant:  potato tubers.

Ready to harvest now: 
the last of the broad beans, new potatoes, loose leaf lettuce, parsley in 
abundance, snap peas, rocket, nasturtium flowers, leeks, kale, mandarins, tangelos, lemons, limes, the last of the grapefruit.

Sow these herbs now:
Chives, coriander, dill, fennel, parsley.

Plant Seedlings of:
​Tomato, chilli, eggplant.

Leave some of the gone-to-seed vegies for flowers. This will create diversity in the garden, food  for bees and other beneficial insects and seeds for future crops. Coriander flowers (below) are much loved by bees and hover flies. Collect the seeds as they dry off.  They are wonderfully aromatic - many times better than what you buy in the shop. Use them in curries, or with carrots sauteed in a little butter.

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT THE MONTH  BY MONTH GROWING GUIDES .