MARCH - PREPARE, PLANT AND HARVEST
TIME TO HARVEST...
Summer crops are coming to an end...
Cut off trusses of unripe tomatoes before the weather turns cold and ripen them on a sunny windowsill. This will stop early frosts splitting them!
Harvest kumara when the tops start to turn yellow, or on the day of the first frost and leave in the sun to dry.
Lift main crop potatoes, spread out to dry, then store in hessian or paper sacks in a cool dark, well-ventaliated place.
Pick the last of your basil crop before the cooler weather arrives.
Harvest pumpkins and leave them out in the sun to enable their skins to harden.
Melons should be ready to harvest now. You tell when it's time by the fragrance. Melons that are ready to be picked have a sweet, fragrant aroma, at the opposite end of the stem.
Check the stem of watermelons, if it's dried out and brown it is likely ripe.
TIME TO PLANT...
As the summer crops are harvested dig over the soil, adding in compost, blood and bone and a dressing of lime, in preparation for winter crops.
Plant Winter vegetables as soon as possible to get good crops in Winter when growth pretty much stops – kale, spinach, pak choi, mizuna, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, savoy cabbages, silverbeet, brussel sprouts, leeks.
Pot up herbs and place in a sunny spot so you can use them during Winter.
Remove runners from strawberry plants and pot up to plant out in Winter.
Divide rhubarb every few years, after the leaves have died back in Autumn. Carefully lift the rhubarb crown and using a sharp clean knife or spade divide the crown into half or thirds. Ensure each part has at least one healthy bud and a decent portion of roots. Replant immediately.
As the weather starts to cool, plant new fruit trees, preparing the soil with compost and using a slow release fruit food after planting.
TIME TO PRUNE...
Prune out all the fruited canes of raspberries, cutting down to the base and stake new canes for support, tie with cloth ties.
Cut back excesssive leaves on gravevines to expose ripening fruit and cover the crop with netting to protect it from birds.
Trim any leaves that are hanging over pumpkins and squash to enable them to ripen faster in the sun.
Summer prune stonefruit trees (peaches, plums, apricots), removing any dead or disease wood and prune to an open shape.
TIME TO SOW...
Green crops like lupin and mustard can be sown in garden beds to protect and enrich the soil.
Broad beans, cabbage, chinese cabbage, cress, herbs, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuces, mustard, spring onions, radish, shallots (bulbs) spinach and turnips.
TIME TO FEED
Citrus plants should be feed this month. Citrus are gross feeders and a feed of citrus food while greatly benefit them. Apply out as far as the drip line and water well. To avoid root burn, be sure to use a slow/controlled release fert if growing citrus in pots.
As mentioned above, enrich the soil of your vege garden with compost, blood and bone, and a dressing of lime after harvesting and prior to planting Winter crops.
Time to control....
Pest and disease on fruit trees
Snails and Slugs
Slugs and snails love the lettuces as they provide shade, damp, and plenty of food. Quash or Blitzem will take care of the problem.
White butterflies
Use bug netting or Organic De-Bug to protect Brassica crops from white butterflies.