THINK COOL SEASON VEGIES NOW!
A DISTINCT DROP IN TEMPERATURE HERALDS AUTUMN
ONE thing most gardeners in this region are hoping for is that the latest spell of hot, humid weather has ended.
There’s no guarantee of course, but now that we’re into the last of the summer months we should start to experience a gradual decrease in morning temperatures, and a subsequent drop in daily maximums.
This bodes well for those of us who are Suburban Backyard Producers, as the cooler air temperatures and still-warm soils are the perfect combination for planting seeds of your favourite cool season vegies. (You may have noticed I now spell the slang for vegetables with one “g”, as my research has shown that the double “g” is distinctly a no-no in this country!)
Firstly, which vegetables (and fruit) are definitely on the “don’t plant them from now on” list?
Unless you have a distinct micro-climate in your garden that remains quite warm through the next couple of months, you should discontinue planting seeds of sweet corn, zucchinis, pumpkins, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum and eggplant.
However, if you have planted seedlings in the last few weeks, and the weather cooperates by staying warmish for the next month or so, then you may get a reasonable crop from these warm season plants before winter’s chill causes them to shut down.
But let’s concentrate on what we CAN plant right now.
Warm season crops that are quick to mature are still on the cards. Dwarf beans (Hawkesbury Wonder, Pioneer, Tendergreen, Simba and Jade) maturing in 8-10 weeks, can be planted up to around the end of February, and the last seed potatoes can go in the ground now (you may have to protect the small plants if we have early frosts).
Of course, there’s a great range of cool season vegies for which this is the ideal time to plant seed.
For the next six weeks, beetroot can be planted and successfully grown as long as the soil temperature stays warmish.
Soak the “seeds” (actually a few seeds in a group) in water for a couple of hours before planting. If you sow the seeds fairly thickly, you can remove some of the young plants after around a month for salad greens when thinning them out.
Varieties to try are ‘Cylindra’ (heirloom), ‘Derwent Globe’ and ‘Perfect’. If you have a warmish spot, you can sow and grow beetroot all year round.
Of course, all the brassicas can be planted as seed or seedlings now.
Quickest to mature would be ‘Sugarloaf’ cabbages, or the aptly named ‘Greyhound’, taking as short as 8 weeks for their conical heads to fill. Actually, in our temperate areas, cabbages can be grown nearly all year round.
Next across the line (12-16 wks) would be broccoli (‘Zen F1’, ‘Sprouting Red Arrow’, ‘Green Sprouting Calabrese’, and ‘Shogun’), followed by cauliflowers such as ’60 Days’ (9 wks), ‘Snowball’ (10 wks), and ‘All Year Hybrid’ (15 wks), and finally brussel sprouts (18-32 wks – ‘Drumtight’, ‘Long Island Improved’).
Nearly all lettuce varieties can be planted now, and all year round, with protection from hot, burning sun a must.
If the weather is still expected to be very warm after planting lettuce, have some temporary shade ready (and moisture!) to help them through the tough midday infernos. Remember the key to crisp, sweet lettuce is rapid growth from adequate and consistent moisture, so mulching is vitally important as well.
I don’t normally plant onions in my garden as they use valuable space for up to 30 weeks of the year, and they’re nearly always pretty cheap from the fruit and vegie shops.
Shallots and spring onions, however, give you excellent bang for your buck and are ready for harvest in around 10-14 weeks, so they’re good to go in now as well. Shallots are available as bulbs, and spring onions are usually grown from seed or purchased in punnets.
Carrots are the bane of my life when attempting to grow from seed in summer.
They need consistent moisture to germinate and protection from hot sun when emerging, with many gardeners covering them with hessian or carpet underlay until they emerge.
My latest sowing (last week) has been very successful as they loved the overcast, drizzly days that followed their planting. Old favourites include ‘All Year Round’ and ‘Topweight’, but newer varieties come in red (‘Scarlet Red’, a cool season carrot), purple (‘Purple Haze’, ‘Purple’), and mixed colours (‘Colour Mix’ and ‘Harlequin’)
I can’t forget peas in the list to plant now (right through to July). They come in dwarf or low bush types that don’t require support (Snowpea ‘Oregon Sugar’, Sugarsnap ‘Sugar Ann’, ‘Blue Bantam’) and climbing varieties such as Snowpea ‘Yakumo’, Sugarsnap ‘Climbing’, and an old favourite, ‘Telephone’ (you’ll have to shell these and ‘Blue Bantam’, sorry!)
Soil preparation for all these except carrots can include digging in good amounts of old compost and manure, or using a good slow-release organic fertiliser.
For carrots, go easy on the manures and organic matter as you may end up with forking of the taproots. Oh, and grow carrots from seed, as transplanted seedlings will nearly always end up distorted and twisted. Happy cool-season gardening!
I’m on Facebook at Wellsley Horticulture, so log on, say g’day, or give my page the big “thumbs up”!