WHAT TO plant now

Summer is here and with it brings an abundance of berries, leafy greens and tomatoes.

DECEMBER

• There’s nothing like making a summer salad with leaves grown in the garden. Plant lettuce, mesclun, parsley, rocket, basil, silverbeet and spinach in stages so you’ve always got some ready to go.

• Now is also a good time to plant chilli, capsicum, courgette, cucumber, eggplant, pumpkin, squash, radish, spring onions and sweetcorn.

• Fruit to plant include blueberry, strawberry, passion fruit, grapes, kiwifruit and tamarillos.

• If you had planted potatoes for Christmas continue mounding soil as shoots grow until they are approximately 30cm tall. This protects them from wind and frost and prevents light reaching tubers and turning them green. • Water is essential during the warmer months, especially for tomatoes. Well nourished tomatoes will have a better chance at keeping insect pests and diseases at bay. • Remember to trim the laterals from growing tomato plants to encourage tastier fruit.

• Stake taller growing berries like blackberries and blueberries so the fruit isn’t on the ground.

• Quickly attend to any small infestations of aphids or whitefly by blasting o with a hose. If infestation is large, spray with a suitable insect spray.

• If you are going to be away, harvest as much as you can. Weed, feed and water well before you go.

• If mildew appears on courgettes and cucumbers, spray with a suitable spray from your garden centre to control it.

• Tend to citrus plants, prune to open the framework of the branches to allow more light into the centre of the plant. • Good companions for strawberries are onions, borage and marigolds. These will help bring the bees in, add a pop of colour and will aid with pollination of your berries.

JANUARY

• Summer gardening comes alive with fruit ripening. Birds enjoy this too, so bird netting may be required to protect ripening tomatoes and strawberries.

• Continue staking tomatoes and pinching out new laterals which appear. Removing old bottom leaves will help with air circulation and reduce the risk of fungal diseases.

• Add mulch to the garden to help retain water.

• Plant basil, beetroot, beans, capsicum, chilli, coriander, courgette, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, mesclun, parsley, pumpkin, squash, radish, rocket, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, sweetcorn and tomatoes.

• Harvest veggies every day to encourage continuous fruiting – especially peas, beans, eggplant, cucumbers and courgettes.

• In season herbs include dill, fennel, parsley and chives. • Onions and garlic are traditionally harvested within a month or so of the longest day. The leaves of both will tell you when they’re ready to be harvested, the tops will wither and die. Dig them up with a fork, knock o the excess soil and leave to dry in the sun for a number of days until the skin resembles paper. Store in a well-ventilated, dry place. g