keep CROPS coming

In most vegie patches, the summer story has only just begun. Keep the crops coming by planting more seeds or seedlings of fast-growing edibles, such as leafy greens, radishes, baby squash, dwarf beans, zucchini, chillies and cherry tomatoes. Take cuttings from basil plants – they’ll form new roots in water – and plant seedlings of dill and parsley in the herb bed. Watch out for heatwave predictions, and be ready to quickly set up a shadecloth or some other form of sun protection that can be easily removed once the heat has faded. Water leafy greens daily during hot weather, and apply some liquid fertiliser once a fortnight, which keeps them growing strongly. Regularly harvest beans, tomatoes, okra, eggplants and capsicums, as well as other fruiting vegies, to keep the plants keen and producing more.