Its time to shake off the winter vegie patch blues, my friends, and get the ball rolling for a productive season ahead!
Start with a big old clean out to create space (and score lots of goodies for making compost!), then focus on sowing greencrops. So well timed: greencrops sown now will prime soils for mid spring plantings.
Make space for the new
These 5 practices keep space freed up for a constant flow of new crops + keep health high + keep a very small area, highly productive. In an ideal world, keeping the vegie patch sorted, happens in a little and often way – I call this keeping momentum up and it’s simply done:
- harvest crops as soon as they are ready. Right about now is a good time to get over wintering yams, carrots and parsnips up. Wash them, dry them and store them in a bag in the crisper.
- remove spent crops as soon as they are no longer useful. Chop them off at ground level then crunch or chop them up for compost or mulch. Put big chunky bits like broccoli stalks beneath avocados or other fruit trees to slowly break down.
- keep on top of weeds. If weeds are big and bolshy – get weeding. Yuk, I know, but far easier now before spring growth kicks in. If you dont need the bed in a hurry, the option is there to cover them with black plastic and leave them to melt into the soil. Far better for soil fertility to avoid letting weeds crowd the garden out, and face it far better for you too! Get them small, little and often is your friend in so may ways, either pull them, how them or cover them with mulch, or exclude them by growing living mulches.
- keep productive crops clean of old ratty foliage. Without old leaves blocking space up, opportunity to sow and plant arises, especially beneath tall crops like broccoli.
- fill the new spaces right away! Preferably with soil building greencrops – especially if the soil is tired and needs reviving. The fastest road to fertility is to keep the soil filled with roots.
What to plant and sow in August
SOW
DIRECT SOW
- Greencrops of mustard and phacelia, for spring nectar to feed and entice bee + predatory insects.
- Lupin greencrops sown this month will be pre-flower and ready to cut down or plant amongst, come October. A perfectly timed precursor to mid-spring plantings of heavy feeders like corn, tomatoes and squash.
- Potatoes, if conditions are right
- Poppy, calendula and borage
TRAY SOW
- Broccoli, cabbage, spring onions, red onions, brown onions, peas in plug trays, miners lettuce, corn salad, parsley, various saladings
- Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, zucchini will need a heat pad in order to warm the seed raising mix to 20°C. Don’t rush into these! There’s a bit of math coming up to help you figure out if you are ready or not.
DIRECT OR TRAY SOW
- Broadbeans
- Spinach, coriander, bok choy, beetroot, saladings or rocket in the greenhouse, or under a cloche – unless its warm enough outside at yours.
TRANSPLANT
- Broadbeans, peas and brassicas
- Broccoli, kale, cabbage, onions, shallots, spring onions, perpetual spinach, silverbeet
- Saladings, beetroot, potatoes or bok choy in the greenhouse
- Strawberries
- Asparagus
Asparagus prep
Prep your asparagus patch for a productive season by weeding it first, then spread a decent layer of homemade compost. If you don’t have enough, mix it with bought compost or vermicastings. A layer of seaweed on top is an awesome option if you are seaside.
Top it all off with a generous mulch of whatever you can scrounge – sea wrack makes a well suited mulch, reminding asparagus of its seaside origins. This year I’m using long grass aka homemade hay. Don’t worry about blocking the asparagus, those spears are like little drills – they’ll easily pierce through.
Timing it right: tomatoes, peppers and aubergines from seed
Tomatoes, peppers and aubergines are ready to transplant 6 – 8 weeks after sowing. Work backwards from here to figure out your perfect sowing moment.
If you have a greenhouse or live in the winterless north, you can get on the job this month knowing that there is a toasty warm, free draining, well nourished environment to transplant your seedlings into.
Without these things, wait until conditions are right. When conditions are right, plants are happy. And when plants are happy they flourish – growing strongly with a lot less pests and disease. Gardening satisfaction guaranteed.
Regular + Odd jobs
- Order in seeds – remember greencrops!
- Keep broccoli, leafy greens and parsley going as long as you can with daily harvests. Mulch the soil around them to keep it cool through September and slow them from going to seed.
- If you wont have enough compost for all your beds, order in some that’s organic and residue free. Bought compost will be immature and devoid of life, so buying it now gives it time to mature and become imbued with life. Sit it on your soil for a while, simple as that. Don’t smother it under a plastic cover, a bit of carpet or some such is better. If its been sealed in a plastic bag, free it from its suffocating bonds and empty it onto the soil. Perhaps pour some EM over it – let it breathe and revitalise before adding it to your garden. If you cannot find good compost, consider vermicastings – less risk and an all round excellent soil food.
August in the greenhouse
Its time to give the greenhouse its annual scrub down. Such an important job each year to get rid of any newly formed moulds before they embed in the plastic.
I use warm soapy water and a soft broom. Clean both the outside and the inside, then rinse the soap off and set the sprinkler on the beds to wash any soap through.
Prep the beds
Next add compost. The greenhouse is a high stress environment it needs more than outside beds do. Check in with your soil to work out how much compost yours needs. A fine layer is enough for me because after many years of applying compost, rotating crops with greencrops, keeping moisture steady through summer and letting the chooks in for 6 weeks in winter, the soil is fab.
If you don’t have enough compost, sow a greencrop now for planting amongst later. Or, extend your compost by mixing it with vermicastings or well rotten manure or cheats compost. Then mulch with whatever rotten organic matter you have to hand.
- Plant companions like alyssum, bishops flower, nasturtium, poppy, borage, phacelia and shoofly near the door and down the back, like a trail of breadcrumbs to bring the bees and predatory wasps all the way in.
- Set up the heatpad, gather seed raising mix, wash labels and trays – spring is coming!
Kia ora Kath and all lounge-locked gardeners
Sitting watching the watertable rise by the minute here in Otaki it was a heart warming moment to receive your welcome message Kath.
Even in the rain the first flush of miniature spring bulbs popping up is a delight.
At least with all the fires there’ll be plenty of wood ash to boost the compost heap. Thanks for the words of wisdom Kath
Thanks Joy!
Enjoy being fireside – suns due back tomorrow 🙂
I look forward so much to your bright and cheerful and very helpful news letters every month. Thank you Kath.
Thanks so much for your note Helen! It makes me happy that you are happy 🙂
Hello Kath,
What is EM for your soil?
Enjoy your news letters, very much!
Carina
Hi Carina
Glad you enjoy the newsletters!
Em is effective microorganisms – a team of beneficial fungi, bacteria, yeasts to out compete the bad guys and improve soil health so your plants grow with gusto! Like how yoghurt or kefir build a strong population of beneficial microorganisms in your gut. The website EMNZ.co.nz has heaps of info.
best
Kath
Hi Cath, do you know were to buy Maori seed potatoes from?
I’d start looking with Sethas seeds.
Hi Kath,
Crop rotation – afraid I’m still at Winnie the poo stage.
With limited space and other site challenges I tend to have one sheltered bed where lettuces thrive, one good sunny spot for garlics and toms, one against-the-fence place for beans, etc. Any thoughts?
Amongst my many neglected beds are some strawberry plants that did ok last year so a pegged out the runners, gave them a lovely seaweed mulch and tucked them up for winter.
Yesterday I hoed the weeds and gave them a sprinkle of the last of my rok solid. What more can I do – I should I have done – to make sure I land in strawberry heaven?
Thanks so much,
Lee
As ever, my thoughts are about noticing how things go and adjusting accordingly. Getting to know your own particular space. In tight places containers are super useful because you can empty the soil onto beds and refresh minimise soil borne disease that way. Teaming good companions up is another great way to use space better for example dwarf beans beneath tomatoes – nitrogen feeder + heavy feeder is a winner. A succession of greencrops in between is another strategy to clean/ rest/ rebuild soil between times if growing the same annual crop repeatedly in one spot.
As for strawbs, sounds like you’ve done great things here. Next year in May might I suggest spreading a generous layer of rotten manure, grows the best berries ever! but the key is time for it to incorporate. If you’ve got a big strong set of leaves on your plants you’ll have a great crop – if not keep plucking off the flowers and build your foliage with liquid seaweed or some such and let them flower when they’ve got enough leaves to support berries. Mulch now will minimise fungal splash back and hold moisture – oh so important for these shallow rooters.
happy days
Kath
Kia ora Kath,
Well done you for the sensible boundary keeping – we all love the monthly emails and fabulous blog posts and would rather they kept coming than let the lot fall over because you’re spent from late nights answering our individuals! Keep up the awesome work 😊
Thank you Phoebe. Kind lady 🙂
Hi Kath,
Thank you for your precious advice,
Do you have any book to recommend to start gardening with the moon? I have never paid attention to the moon but my grand mother does and her garden is thriving so I want to give it a go.
Thanks
Celia
I love Rachel Pomeroys moon calendar in the organic NZ magazine. I’ve never read a book about it though so cant help there.
happy days
K
I loved your letter to us at the beginning of this newsletter. Makes me feel like we are all in this together and like we can make a difference, just by doing the things we love to do. I feel like we can support each other more and this is what you are doing–supporting us to do the things that are healing our planet and the people on it. No Kath, you are not stretching it at all. We must all stretch to get to the place where we can do more for each other and for the earth we so love.
Hi Kath,
This is really useful and I’m starting to get my vege bed ready for spring, after the winter veges have done their dash. But I have a big creeping oxalis problem in the vege bed (thats the yellow flower). I wondered if you had any tips on dealing with this problem please? earlier this year I had to weed the vege garden thoroughly every second day as the oxalis came up very quickly and covered everything – it was a nightmare and one I don’t want a repeat of! I have read that spraying with vinegar can help. Thanks!!! Ruth
Tricky as Ruth. You dont want to vinegar or baking soda amongst vegetables. This may seem drastic but make a new vegie garden in an oxalis free spot. Or shut down the infested bit, cover with a tarp for a year then lay thick cardboard and make a no dig garden on top. Life is too short to be weeding oxalis out of a vegie bed! The more you disturb it the more it spread and as a vegie garden is regularly disturbed its not a winner. Better to use the area for perennials/ fruit trees. Good luck 🙂
Thanks so much Kath! A bit disheartening having this problem since I’ve only just got into vege gardening – but I guess its just one of the challenges to get through!!
I have googled this and seen lots of different advice – then wondered why I hadn’t asked you as you always have a well thought out and sensible approach!!, thanks againl
Ruth
So much learning in the garden! I get it… agggh begin again! but its well worth it and now you’ve got really solid awareness up your sleeve for future – avoid weed infestations for annual crops or eliminate the weed infestation before creating the garden. So good. Enjoy!
thanks Kath – a hard lesson! – coffees coming your way !!!
Hi Kath,
nubie gardner here. Loving you newsletters and advise. Im love love loving learning how to live out of my garden. Thank you.
Kath ive got a avocado plant and it has brown leaves growing . The new shots are looking great but im concerned it may have a disease of maybe bad soil. Any advise please.
Thanks Kath. Keep up the fantastic work and stay well
Paul
My first thought Paul, at this time of year is frost. Likely?
Kia ora Bonny I think a lot of the smaller growers have sold out already (incl setha’s) but I found a good range from Morton-Smith Dawe at M10.
Hi Kath,
Love the tip of three onions in a hole. Does it work just as well with red onions?
I grow everything in pots, evergrow bags and vegepods as we have no open ground.
I have installed worm towers in all of the pods which seemed lifeless at first, but I was blown away with the amount of worms in one of the pods I turned over yesterday to get ready for spring.
Do you have any tips for growing in containers?
I have learnt lots from your news letters already.
Thank you.
Oh yes – red onions as well. Such a good space saver. I dont have alot of experience in pots nor have I written much about them but there are heaps of really good container and pot vegie growers out there now for you to draw on. One I live is The edible balcony India Naidoo. The only article Ive written is this one here https://www.ediblebackyard.co.nz/make-an-instant-vegie-patch/. Take care out there, Kath
Hey Kath,
Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. Very much appreciated.
We’ve recently moved and and been quite busy of late, so are lacking compost for this season. The current gardens have been well looked after over the years but we still want to amend them. You mentioned ordering in compost, which I have done in the past, yet I am much more cautious about that these days due to the negative impacts they can have k on soul life, depending on source. Do you have any recommendations? W are located in Whanganui.
Thanks so much
Hey Jared
You are right to be cautious. The very best compost is the stuff you make yourself. Hands down. I get it though – the business factor. How I’ve adapted over the years is to have less annual vegetables by moving into a few more perennials and to grow three times as much in a smaller space by sowing the next crop beneath the feet of the older crop take the pressure off the compost making to make it achievable. For now though you need compost and I cannot help you there – I’d hunt out one of the many local organic/ permaculture crew and hit them up. Also to diary in an hour a week to collect organic matter. This stash is the difference.
all the best Kath
Thanks Kath! The winterless north is still a tad chilly at 4 degrees this morning. Really only have kale, silverbeet and cabbage liking this soggy clay and cool weather.
Was becoming a little despondent about my vege patch but you just gave me my mojo back again.
Green blessings to you.
X
We are lucky indeed to have each other to stay inspired, go well x
Hi Kath love your book and monthly newsletter, I am planting in vege pod and would love to know your thoughts on keeping soil good there. Or should I be emptying out each year and replacing with new soil?? thanks heaps Laureen
Hi Lauren – I’ve never used a vegie pod but the thing to do is to test the soil yourself and assess the need that way. Without the contact of the ground you will need to do extra to keep it in top health. https://www.ediblebackyard.co.nz/diy-soil-test/. take care, Kath
Hi Kath really inspired by your book and monthly blog. Going to have a go at growing potatoes (among other things) for the first time this year but have read different things about chitting. How necessary is it and should the potatoes be put in a light or dark place for this? Thanks Donna
Hey Donna – Spuds will sprout in the dark and the light. In the light they grow stocky shoots and in the dark long spindly ones …. just like what happens to the spuds in the cupboard! I’ve never measured the difference as to chitted or not in the garden – I’m guessing the idea is its faster? but really the spuds will grow (ever had them come up n the compost?) Rarely these days do I pre sprout them – I just bang them in and they grow fine. Spuds are super easy. Enjoy!
Thanks for the informative newletter! I am wondering what you would recommend preparing the soil with for growing a good crop of tomatoes… lots of compost? I planted into an area where I’d had lupins as a green crop last season and they didn’t fruit well. It was also really hot and dry though, Thanks!
Hey Alison, first up check your soil. This is the key! https://www.ediblebackyard.co.nz/diy-soil-test/ Dont just rely on greencrops, though they are awesome – assess your soil first. Then yes if it needs it compost is a winner.
hi Kath,
I’m really enjoying reading through your blog posts, thanks for the easy reading and helpful advise!
I’m studying horticulture and also working through Kay Baxter’s Beginner Gardener booklet, and your website is helping me to process everything I’m learning in a more practical and relatable way
So glad that I came across it!
I have a question regarding ‘green cover crops’. It is now early spring… just! I am starting to sow seeds in trays in preparation for spring planting. I have not used cover crops before to restore and maintain soil health over the winter seasons. I loaded my bare vege beds with my (hopefully rich) home made compost, and just covered it with thick mulch to rest over the winter. I now am learning about cover crops and wondering, is it too late now to plant a “Green Mixed crop” of lupin and oat, to have growing through spring and into the early summer, which I will transplant some vege seedlings into (corn, etc, from your list of heavy feeders that grow well with green crop). Or is it too late to bother with cover crop? I had tomatoes in this particular patch that I have in mind, and they all got really sick with blight, but the soil probably does need some attention. Or maybe the compost/mulch was enough.
Sorry, I’ve written a small novel for whats probably a simple question.. its so easy to overthink these things in the garden!!
thanks so much for reading,
eva
Oh yes – way too easy to over think Eva, but I totally understand what you are getting at. You’ll be less confused as you go along!
Oats aren’t something I’d plant now unless you live somewhere cold. Phacelia, mustard, calendula, lupin, broadbeans, or daikon if you are on heavy clay – are all good options.
Yes – sow away! Think of greencrops as an on going part of your garden. They are awesome crop prep – for instance sown now will be ready to nurture october plantings of squash. And also awesome crop support – you can strip sow them in gaps between crops, you can sow them around finishing crops to take over in a seamless way with little down time and you can sow them at the same time you plant/ sow a new crop – as long as they work together eg not tall lupin with low growing carrots for instance. Although if you do create a poor match – no worries, just chop and drop the excess greencrop to create space. Super flexible!
Check out your soil for the answers to whether or not your treatments are working https://www.ediblebackyard.co.nz/diy-soil-test
Check in with it regularly and you’ll see it improve over time – such a thrill!
enjoy + trust
K
PS Your compost will be awesome – its not as complicated as you think and your home made stuff is more potent than you think as well.
Just starting to get the confidence to try and grow my own veges in raised beds. It’s been hit and miss for me so far in my attempts using buckets and the garden. Things bolted because I didn’t know when to start harvesting them, or they drowned this year with all the rain, or the tomatoes all split last year.
Thanks for providing good, follow-able time frames.
Hi,
I really enjoy to read your blog and precious discussions in the comments. I have still a question about greencrop, we’ve been more using compost, mulch and straw…but I would like to give it a try. we just cleaned up our previous potato patch, it’s a lot of frost here in southland in August, certainly some in September, and really spring begins in October with still risks of few frosts… the soil is clay.
and I want to try a three sisters garden there this summer.
what can I put as greencrop? now? or do I leave it bare until I can sow something? or cover it with mulch? or straw? or both?
thank you for your enlightening in advance 😉
Fun – a 3 sisters garden! My best tip in a colder climate is to get your corn a head start – or use dwarf beans, I never had much success… the beans always swamped the corn. Have a play and see how you get on.
Your best prep is for sure a greencrop now. Way better to have an active soil with roots than sitting doing nothing. Make a mix of one or two or all of mustard, lupin or broadbeans, radish or daikon and vetch. Then follow along my article Transition from greencrop to crop.
Enjoy!
K
I did look into it a bit more after your answer. vetch, raddish, mustard and broadbeans seems a good call. I will maybe even add winter rye.
thank you!!
for the 3 sisters, it’s really for fun! so I look to sow the corn mid November (or start it earlier in the greenhouse and transplant it, but I will.prefer not) then transplant some squash or. pumpkins early december and sow some summer beans slower growth then (on kingsseeds : Asian winged beans or runner yard long) in mid december.
im still not too sure of the configuration of my planting, but I think I’m going to do rows of corn in a square way with space for pumpkins between, and some beans every 2 corns!?
will see. and some companion flowers around.
it’s all learning!
Hi Kath,
Thank you for this web site. It has so much useful information!
I had the arborist prune some big trees at the end of my garden in May, so now I have a large pile of wood chips/mulch. I have had conflicting advice about what I can do with it. Some people told me not to put it directly on any beds until it has matured and to only use it on top of cardboard to suppress weeds for now. I have read in other places I can use it directly onto soil now as mulch. I feel like it is a precious resource but I’m not totally sure how to use it. The birds are loving it in the meantime.
Thanks
Katherine
Yes! Such a precious resource, Katherine. I love that you feel this way.
So much conflicting information – there sure is. To make it worse, all those bits of advice are true!, because each situation has its own unique context and what’s good for one, is not necessarily good for another.
The chip from around the outside of the tree (twigs, leaves, fine branches) is a most magnificent product. The ends of branches being full of minerals and lignin as well as a nice balance of nitrogen (foliage) and carbon (wood) – they spark the biological fire in your soil! Sounds like you’ll have a mixture of this younger wood + older wood. Just toss it together as is practical to mix it all up – young + old + different varieties.
Much depends on tree variety, but to keep things simple, if the mulch is hot let it cool down before using. It will start to grow lots of lovely fugal allies. It wont go off, it’ll just get better, so there’s no rush. My preference is to not cover it but to let it breathe. Or perhaps in your case to cover it with birdnet 🙂
Use as needed to sprinkle around your orchard floor, for wood chip paths in your vegie patch/ greenhouse (an easy way to boost soil!) or to mulch fruiting shrubs, brambles or trees. I have grown wonderful garlic in a bed of really well rotted chip – this was from the ends of branches only though, no older wood.
Your plants and your soil, will show you in a very direct way, how much they like this particular mix of woodchip.
Check the soil before putting it on, then check it after and then a little bit later still.
If plants develop any sudden changes – trust what you see.
If you feel really good as you are applying it…. stoked to be putting it on – that’s a good sign! If you feel unsure about it – an indicator also.
Between you and the plants, there’s your answer.
Hi Kath
When you say to dump bagged compost onto the soil, is it ok if there is grass over said soil? Or does it need to be bare soil- we have none of that!
Thanks,
Lesley
Hey Lesley great question! Lay card first and then pop the compost on top of that.
Card not plastic, to keep the flow of air and gases.
A barrier is good to stop grass going through esp around the edges.
K x