Vegetables

Onion seed sown this month will withstand the winter, then mature into goodsized bulbs for harvesting next summer. Prepare soil with wood ash (if you can get it), lime and some garden compost, or a general garden fertiliser. Space cleared of early potatoes or peas is ideal for growing onions. Pukekohe Longkeeper, developed by Pukekohe’s commercial growers in 1923, remains popular with home gardeners. Cabbage (Earliball, Green Acre or mini variety Space Saver), silverbeet and spinach (Winter Queen, Santana) can be sown for use in early winter through to spring. Late summer and early autumn sowing is important, as they will grow rapidly in good soil before the first frosts slow them down. Sowing seed after a shower of rain is ideal. Make sure beds do not dry out. Weeds gallop through their life cycle at this time of year and seedlings will produce seeds in a few weeks. Dig weed plants, but not docks or dandelions, into the soil, or pull them out and add to the compost heap before the seeds ripen. Secondcrop potatoes, such as Maris Anchor, may be lifted now. Leave the ground vacant, or sow a green manure crop such as lupins or mustard. Green manuring involves growing suitable plants for about six months and then digging them in before they flower. Where a faster turnover is needed, mustard can be sown, as it will mature in three months. For general purposes, oats and blue lupins are recommended. Lupins add nitrogen to the soil, while oats help break up heavy soils. Field peas and red clover can also be used.