Vegetables
Cabbage, cauliflower and silverbeet can still be planted to stand the winter. Ground from which potatoes have been lifted recently is ideal for these crops.
Sprinkle blood and bone (100g per sqm) on the ground, and rain in May and June will wash it into the soil. Compost can also be spread where these hardy vegetables are to be grown.
Cauliflower heads can be damaged by rain and cold conditions as winter nears. Those maturing soon should be regularly checked and the outside leaves turned in on the centres, the curds, to help protect them and keep them white.
Celery sometimes shows leafspot at this time of the year and can be treated with a copper spray applied every 10 to 14 days.
Because they like cool, moist conditions, leeks usually will keep growing until June.
If soil is drawn up around the stems of Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli as they grow, it will not only aid drainage for the plants during the winter, but also help prevent them being blown over in strong winds.
Asparagus beds are worth the effort, as these perennial vegetables will produce crops for 20 years or more. Keep the bed free of weeds but leave the plants’ top growth until it yellows. While still green, the plants are manufacturing plant food and building up their crowns, from which strong, edible growths will be cut next spring.
This is a good time to apply wellrotted manure or compost into which chopped seaweed has been added.