The most important mission this month is getting long term crops like kumara, yams, pumpkins and peppers, in the ground. Yams need about 6 months to fatten up, kumara and sweet peppers need 4 – 5 warm months and pumpkins 4 – 6 months (variety dependant). They all need varying degrees of warmth to thrive, so if your place isn’t quite there yet, be sure to jazz up some heat for them.
With the long term crops sorted, turn your attention to the successional crops that can be drip fed in a little + often way throughout summer. These will differ according to your climate and your tastebuds – hit up your gardening neighbours, if you’re unsure, and ask them how their succession rolls. My Levin one goes something like this:
- Transplant a new lot of corn fortnightly until end of December
- Once a month through ’til January plant out one zuchinni, two cucumbers, half a dozen tomatoes and a row of dwarf beans
- Once a month until summers end; a couple dozen saladlings, beetroot, rocket, coriander, radish and basil
Slow and steady my gardening friends, turns your veggie patch into your veggie shop.
Yours in the earth,
❤️ Kath