As the vegie garden missions slow down, get stuck in and make lots of compost! There’s heaps of finished summer crops/ flowers/ perennials about, providing a bounty of ingredients – make good use of it.
Then when all the doing is done, segue into a bit of garden dreaming. Are you putting in new beds or trees this winter? Where will they go? For the best outcome, spend a bit of time pondering.
Sow
Direct sow
- Corn salad and miners lettuce – sweet little winter/ spring cut and come again greens. Small crops like these need to be along the outside (or picking) edge of your gardens so they aren’t outcompeted. Great in pots. Sow them once, let them self seed and they’ll arrive faithfully every autumn.
- Greencrops: lupins, broadbeans, phacelia, wheat, oats, mustard or barley. Kings Seeds Autumn Manure Mix is awesome. Grow as many greencrops as you can fit.
- Coriander and rocket may need to be undercover (ie the greenhouse, a cloche or on a porch) if temperatures are chilly at yours.
- Mizuna is a super handy, easy as, cold hardy green to sow now. Let it self seed and have it ever after.
- Calendula, sweet peas and poppies
Tray Sow
- Globe Artichokes, spring onions, red or brown onions
- A mixture of brassicas. They’ll grow slowly, but are still worth it for late winter/ spring eating.
- Peas into toliet rolls or plug trays
- A mixture of salad greens
Direct or Tray Sow
- Broadbeans are best tray sown where soils are heavy + wet, and slug populations high.
- Spinach, coriander and beetroot can be direct sown in the greenhouse as the weather and soils cool. Though they all handle cooler soil, they grow faster and therefore sweeter in the warmth.
- Good companions like calendula, poppies, cornflowers, larkspur and sweetpeas (must have sweetpeas!)
Transplant
- Broadbeans, peas, beetroot and brassicas
- Loads of leafy greens like parsley, kale, perpetual spinach and rainbow chard.
- Salad greens that don’t mind cooler weather like endive, cos or “Merveille de quatre saisons”. Or grow salads in warmer places like in pots on the deck or in the greenhouse.
- Garlic, spring onions, red onions or brown onions.
- Celery – either outside or in the greenhouse to prevent rust.
- Lots of flowers like stock, primula, larkspur, cornflower and snapdragons
- Strawberries. If you raised your own plants from runners now’s the time to plant them out. May plantings have all winter to grow lovely big roots. Big roots = bigger plants = more cropping.
Regular + Odd Jobs
- Harvest kumara if not done already, Often recommended to wait till the tops die off, but in all these years I’ve never got to that stage. This instruction is for hotter climates I think. Get them up before the frost hits!
- Fill every spare space with crops, greencrops, herbs or flowers. A covering of plants is the ultimate soil builder + protection from cold, wind + rain.
- Liquid feed broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, leeks and leafy greens to boost them along until temperatures dip below 10 degrees. At this point soil life shuts down and there’ll be no more point to liquid feeding.
- Weed and thin carrots, kohlrabi, fennel, parsnips for good sized crops.
- Gather OM (organic matter). It makes our gardens sing, it’s shopping + plastic bag free and all around us. Use this slower pace of May to get collecting – hay, sawdust, leaves, manure …. whatever your neighbourhood yields. Make piles about the edge of your garden – they’re life savers.
- Prepare your asparagus bed for winter. When the ferns are brown, the carbs have gone to the roots and it’s time to lay it down.
- Refresh tired old kale or chard plants by cutting off all the big old foliage and if need be, chopping the stem back to about 20cm-ish. Use them to make yummy chips or chop into compost. Dollop some rotten manure at the base and the stump will re-sprout. Pick it regularly for lots of small, sweet leaves.
The Greenhouse
Greenhouse soil will be tired about now and need to be rehydrated. Once moisture is restored spread a generous layer of compost with a little well rotten manure or vermicastings mixed in before sowing or planting greencrops, salad greens, celery, spinach, beetroot or coriander.
Take care in the cold, low light of winter not to sow too densely – keep a healthy airflow and avoid blocking light. Open the greenhouse everyday to let it breathe. Slash back greencrops as they encroach on crops.
Have a go at growing potatoes in buckets in your greenhouse this winter – such a handy spring crop!
Hi Kath
We were interested to read in your newsletter about your hunt for a new natural fertilizer … the Ocean one sounds good. We liked Rok Solid, but were thrilled to find a much cheaper rock dust, RockPLUS Soil Remineraliser, from Fertile Fields in New Plymouth. We drive up there once a few 30 kg sacks of it – enjoying a couple of days off and a look at the Len Lye Gallery in the process. We highly recommend this product, which has been round for years. Perhaps a few folk might want to chip in to get a sack sent down to share and trial? Let’s know what you think of it – our veges are happy and healthy-as in it! Cheers, Radha and Charles … Here is the link …
http://www.fertilefields.co.nz/drupal/rock_plus_soil_remineraliser
Any thoughts on Bio Boost
Thanks so much for the link Radha – really helpful to give everyone options. Your garden gives you all the feedback you need, so pleased you’ve found something that’s working for you + the bonus of a roadie to the ‘naki – always great. nga mihi Kath
Hi Kath
Which Ocean Organics product are you using for regular liquid feeds of brassicas and leafy greens?
Cheers,
Lesley
Hi Lesley – I’m using the foliar spray. happy gardening Kath
I’ve been looking to buy Miner’s lettuce. Can’t see it in any of the shops. Anyone know where to buy this around Horowhenua.Thanks?
Buy a packet of seed Graham – kings seeds sell it. Miners lettuce does much better when direct sown ok. Best winter salading! And regards bio boost I love the recycled nature of it. Its not something I’ve really investigated – a little put off with all the processing. Have you been using it?
Thanks for reply. Ive used Bio boost but not for long enough to be able to comment. much.
I’d be interested to hear how you go Graham.
Be vateful, it spreads everywherr
Yes it does Megan! And therein lies its charm. Could have an easier, prettier more gentle weed than miners lettuce – I think not! Enjoy
Garlic and rust – lost it all two years in a row. Is there something I can plant where the rusty garlic was to “cleanse” the soil? Or maybe that isn’t necessary?
Thank you for what you do for us all, Kath.
Hi Trish – No need Trish, just gather the foliage and remove it. You could sow a greencrop of cleansing mustard if you like. The hard part in a small garden is then keeping any allium (onion, leek,garlic) off that spot for as long as you can. If you run out of room in your garden try it in a pot – goes really well. Hope this helps. Love Kath
Thanks for drumming it in to us about the green crops. I have several unplanted packets that I purchased after reading your last month’s blog (or maybe the month before!). They are going in THIS WEEKEND!!!! Bare soil no more…..
Hurrah!!
Hi Kath
We’re about to move into a rented property so can’t do too much to the garden there. There are some raised beds full of soil already but no plants or even weeds growing. I’m wondering what you would advise to do to prepare these beds for use? As we may only be there for a year I’d like to get some plants in asap if possible, but do want to make sure the soil is ok. Any thoughts? There are 6 beds so could sow a green manure mix in some of them perhaps. Was wondering about getting some horse manure or store-bought compost as we won’t have our own ready for a wee while. Any advice greatly appreciated! Also, are there any fruit trees that you reckon would be ok in containers that we could take with us when we leave?
Cheers
Alana
Hi Alana,
Tricky question to answer from afar! Are there any worms? What does the soil smell like? I’m a bit worried when you say its bare dirt – no weeds even? I wouldn’t go raw horse manure, I’d get a good quality compost in – if you live round here check out Paranui Organics. And also something like EM and/ or oceans organics liquid feed to stimulate the good biology. Top it all off with mulch – a lovely leafy one if there are deciduous trees near you. And yes you cannot beat a greencrop for soil remediation. I’d go pea and oat from kings seeds. As for trees in pots, not so much. If its only a year I’d wait. You’ll need to get to know your new property first as well as perhaps creating shelter, drainage et all before planting trees anyway – never recommend rushing into the fruit tree thing. Hope this helps
Kath
Thanks heaps! I thought it seemed a bit odd to have no weeds or anything. Will check for worms and have a sniff once we move in. Anything in particular I’d be looking for?
Just check for worms and what does it smell like – musty probably! Either way add good compost and a stimulant – EM and or oceans organics followed by a greencrop. Good luck! Kath
Great thanks for that!
I have just planted several fruit trees (mandarin, ?, lemon, apple and feijoa) into a reasonably well drained flat area on my section and have been advised to also plant comfrey around them. Is this correct, and what other measures can I take? They appear to be growing quite nicely at present
Hi Roger
Yes to the comfrey beneath the apples!
I dont usually go for a living mulch beneath citrus because I live in the west coast/ lower half of the north island and at times we dont get great summers I need to be careful of airflow for best health around citrus and feijoas too. Therefore I go the deep mulch road beneath my evergreens. If you live somewhere with hot dry summers and are happy to prune the citrus and feijoas so that the first layer of branches is well above the height of the full grown comfrey – then go for it. Another useful option is a comfrey border round the edges of your citrus area so its easy to slash it and throw it on them for mulch.
The advantage of mulch beneath feijoas rather than comfrey is that you can easily get to the dropped fruits, which are far better than picked ones.
hope this helps!
Kath
Thanks for suggesting I get my strawberries going now, in May, Kath. Any suggestions for which sort? I’ve given up on using runners as they just never produce as well as newly-bought plants.
Many thanks, Trish
Good question, and yes strawberries do run out of juice after a while. I have two favourites that I grow at home the little heritage Captain cook strawberries – not as big as modern ones but so sweet and easy; and the clumping alpines, which you can grow in a perennial area – smaller again but so sweet and they just fruit and fruit and fruit! At the school garden we grew Seascape which is a modern variety but it went really well – the kids love big red juicy strawberries! Alpines benefit from dividing every now and then. All others are at peak in year 2/3 so after that need to be replaced with runners or new plants.
Thank you, thank you. 🙏🏽
You’re very welcome Trish 🙂
Hi Kath, I’ve been trying to find a supplier of alpine strawberries, would you happen to know of anyone please?
Hey Linda – Sethas Seeds sells them!
Hi Kath, when you say plant strawberries in May you are talking about the runners off the old plants I presume? New plants don’t come available this early that I know of. We have found the runners never do as well as a new batch each year in our strawberry patch. Thoughts please? Cheers, Ray
Great question Ray! Yes I am talking runners. I grow the heritage Captain Cook strawberries, and pot runners up keeping a new strawberry nursery on the go. Runners from younger plants seem to go better, and I only use the first lot of runner, and runners that have grown somewhat in the pot seem to go better still. Thanks for your question, Kath
Awesome, thank you.
Hi Kath – I would like to know about the nitrogen fixer called Alaeagnus which is a good plant for adding N to the soil. There is one species called the Russian olive but it meant to be invasive. Would you recommend it and if so where could I find a source? I’ve looked on line but had no luck. Kay Baxter also mentions this species in her book “Design your own orchard”
Cheers, Diana.
Yes it has become a big problem in the states which puts me off growing it too as I’d hate to cause havoc in our native bush. There are however loads of options for nitrogen fixers – right through from groundcovers, shrubs to trees – so you don’t need to be too attached to one particular variety. Check out Kahikatea farm website for the plants they sell.
best
Kath
Hi Kath,
Great Newsletter, thank you. As I am in Levin I’m happy if Graham would like to come around and dig out a clump of miner’s lettuce. If he reads this again he can give me a call, Kay 368 3630
Oh thats so kind – thanks Kay 🙂
Kale tip is amazing. Just looped the top of one of my kale trees
Yay! What you gonna do with all those big old leaves Amanda?
Hi Kath. SO much useful advice on your blog and Facebook page. I remember you said (somewhere) to chop up dried-up pumpkin vines after harvest to use for mulch. Many of our pumpkin leaves had some amount of powdery mildew on them before they dried up (I cut off the worst, but was afraid of cutting off too many photosynthesising green leaves). Would you still recommend using these vines, or putting into the greenwaste bin? Thanks.
Thanks Margie! Using all our finished crops as mulch is good in so many ways. I never used to recycle mildewed foliage as mulch, but I’m more relaxed about it these days – perhaps trusting in the vitality of my system here. Options – if the crop following is never going to mildew up for example a greencrop, then have a play. EM poured on will help clean up any pathogens as will diluting the intensity by mixing it with herb trimmings grass clippings et all. Or if this doesn’t feel good use it beneath a deciduous fruit tree + EM, or if this doesn’t feel good tuck it beneath natives. There’s no right or wrong here – though putting it in the wheelie bin is not a great call for the planet! Follow your gut and thanks for recycling your green waste at home :).
Hi Kath
Just love reading your blogs and pages and have gained some really good knowledge & tips from you over many many months. I so look forward to your emails each month. My question is about pruning berries. I’m going to be pruning my raspberries soon but am unsure on how to do this. Reason being is that they are on their second flowering and fruiting. I had a super crop in summer and then they started flowering & fruiting again end of March/April How do I prune these – will I prune as summer fruiting or autumn fruiting. I am also currently still picking a second wave of strawberries. I live in Canterbury (S.I.) and we’ve already had a couple of small frosts in the mornings so am surprised by this second wave from both these berry plants.
Hey Karolyn – yes the weather is all over so our plants respond in the same way – all over the place! Prune as per summer fruiters – heres my blog about it https://www.ediblebackyard.co.nz/how-to-prune-raspberries/. Enjoy!
As usual your information is bang on Sarah. Always love getting your posts in my inbox. Have a question for you. I have just discovered rust on my leeks today and had one of those moments when you just cant believe what you are saying. My plants are incredibly healthy, the soil is full of life, I feed both the soil and plants on a regular basis. EM and home grown compost for the soil and seaweed and other teas for the plants. I have removed as many infected leaves as possible being extremely careful. But Im thinking I could try baking soda or perhaps neem. What are your thoughts Sarah, Im a little devastated as the crop is amazing and the problem is I want to get my garlic in the ground soon and now Im too scared to as my beds are fairly close. Look forward to hearing from you.
Hiya Hazel.
First thing is not to take it personally – rust is environmental – and even though the fashion is to grow nutrient dense food of high quality and theoretically never get any disease – its an unattainable goal, so lets put that to one side. Diseas will come and its annoying, but AOK.
The same rust that leeks get, garlics get so if its in your leeks and the bed is beside – it is almost certain your garlic will get it. Once rust is in the only way I have successfully held it back has been with weekly sprays of kiwicare super sulfur. Neem wont make any difference and baking soda is a preventative and may slow it some but wont stop it.
How about planting your garlic in pots or containers elsewhere? Or use sulfur this season on both crops? or grow garlic in a mates rust free garden? or experiment carry on with your EM et all and also use baking soda sprays and decide that if the garlic gets it too, ah well so be it.
hope this helps ease your mind some, Kath
Thanks for that Kath. You’re simply the best
Hi Kath, we’re near Palmy and I bought awapuni asparagus seedlings – is it ok to plant these out and put frost cloth over? I have seen conflicting info on when to plant out new asparagus (they are seedlings not 1 year old crowns I think – all green and feathery – in individual planter bags. Thanks!
Yes Avon – as long as you have prepared nourished, free draining bed plant them out. If not then keep them in the pots until spring. Green and feathery is the end of the cycle pre die down ok. They’ll rise up again in spring.
Hi Kath
I know you would say not to plant fruit trees in containers, but I was wondering if it is ok as a temporary arrangement? We’ve been living in a house for a few years that we rent and I’ve avoided planting any fruit trees as we’ve never known how long we would be here. Now we’re looking to buy and I’m getting impatient! Would there be any benefit to buying fruit trees and putting them in containers for the first 6 months to a year and then transplanting them once we’re settled? Would this roughly be the equivalent to having them in the ground during that time or is it a waste of time/detrimental to their growth? I’m counting how many years until I’ll be able to eat homegrown fruit and it feels so far off…
I hear you Alana! Good news … there’s evergrow bags http://www.evergroworchard.co.nz. Pop your trees in these little beauties while you wait. How exciting to be buying land!
Thanks heaps Kath!
Hi there. I read your info about pruning a grape vine. My grape vine is planted outside in Dunedin but supposed to have all its growth inside the glasshouse. (“Trunk goes through a hole into the glasshouse). It has worked for a few years but this year most of the growth was outside the glasshouse. If I prune the shoots outside the glasshouse, how do I get them to not spring away again in spring so that all the new growth is inside the glasshouse where it’s supposed to be?
Hey Heather, it sounds to me like your grape is prefers life on the outside. Usually a simple matter of heading towards the light – ie the grape is doing this because this is where the best light is – is this the case? Did it fruit well outside the glasshouse, I wonder. As much as possible go with your plants rather than trying to impose what you want on them – let me know what you reckon.
Hi Kath, I have just spread some rotten sileage around my garden, a real thick layer where we harvested our spuds and also amongst my brassica & spinach beds.
Basically anywhere I had gaps or bare soil. But the brassica’s & spinach are looking very unhappy since I did this – the leaves are drooping, do you think it would have been a bit rich for them? I have done this before with no issues but the last lot probably wasn’t as rotten.
Hey Paula – nope wont be too rich. I wonder what’s different…. have you felt it and felt + smelled the soil? Was the silage perhaps hot if it was still rotting – that’d do it! Or was the silage sprayed (whilst growing as in – fungicide? herbicide? – that’d also do it.
Haha, pondering I am, and have been for years. My West Auckland clay sloping yard failed to dry out at all this summer, so still pondering how to put in more raised beds that sit in a bog…..or if a duck pond could work instead.
You need to slow the water down and soak it up Raych! do this by planting fruit trees + shrubs along the contour and underplant them with loads of edible/ companion perennials – especially tap root plants to open and hold the clay. Nothing better than lots of plants to soak up and slow water. Focus more on perennial food plants. Perhaps us Hugelkultur on the north side of your trees for your annuals rather than raised beds. Mini swales in the paths may help too, perhaps funnel them into a duck/fish pond at the bottom 🙂 Find a local permaculture designer and book them in for an hour!