MAY – PLAN AHEAD & THE VEGETABLE GARDEN WILL FEED YOU ALL WINTER
TIME TO HARVEST...
The first of the leeks and brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers, etc), the last of the summer lettuces, parsley (keeping it picked stimulates new growth.
TIME TO PLANT...
Speedy crops in cold frames, greenhouses, or pots in warm spots (lettuce, pak choi, micro-greens, silverbeet, rocket). Punnets winter vegetable seedlings — brassicas, broad beans, lettuces, silverbeet, spinach. Red lettuces attract the heat which encourages growth, and red is less attractive to birds. Several herbs can be grown indoors during winter — pot into good quality potting mix and grow in warm indirect light (mint is particularly easy, just dig up a small clump and re-pot). Gooseberries love the winter cold which encourages good yields. Damp but well-drained soil, sun/semi-shade, prune after fruiting, thin to allow sun and air movement.
Tasty Treats Gooseberry St Patricks 12cm
A highly sort after gooseberry. Producing clusters of white flowers in late spring and producing green fruit in summer. A mildew resistant variety. Prefers full sun and rich well drained soil.
TIME TO SOW...
Garlic doesn’t have to be planted traditionally on the shortest day but any time in March–July. Sunand well-drained soil enriched with organic material. Break bulbs into individual cloves, leaving papery skins intact, plant pointed end up 5–8cm deep, 20cm apart. Suppress weeds as garlic hates competition. Shallots can be planted May–August, full sun, plus much the same planting and care regime as garlic, nitrogen-rich fert in late winter, regular watering (ease off watering pre-harvest in summer allowing bulbs to dry out). Sow broad beans, brassicas (plant for spring harvesting), garlic, onions, winter lettuces, shallots. Enrich the soil with compost and sheep pellets. Peas — plant in zig zag form — better use of space, improves airflow to reduce risk of mildew, and allows more sunlight in.
Microgreens are like gold if you have to buy them so growing them plus nutritious sprouts on a warm kitchen windowsill in winter makes perfect sense; check out our easy Kitchen Seed Sprouters and all the seed combos available – Hot & Spicy Mix, Sandwich, Alfalfa, Stirfry, Snow Pea, Wheatgrass, Mediterranean.
These beans look and taste good and remain green after cooking. Broad beans are the only bean tough enough to grow through winter. Sow in autumn in warm regions and late summer and spring in cooler regions.
TIME TO FEED...
Use a liquid feed (Thrive is excellent) to water in new vegetable seedling plantings and then side-dress with animal manure (sheep pellets). Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food gives vegetables a wonderful boost in winter, esp brassicas that keep on growing through the cold – Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli etc. Brussel Sprouts are at their best after a few good frosts, & best eaten on the smaller side rather than when they turn into mini-cabbages with a slightly mustardy taste which is what puts children off eating them.
The rule of thumb with brassicas - the bigger the leaves the bigger the heads, and one of the things that will really boost them is Dried Blood (tip given to me by an old gardener who grew the most enormous broccoli). Don’t be dismayed when the brassicas seem to be nothing but leaf — patience is a virtue; plenty of large leaves means good-sized broccoli and cauliflower heads.
Stonefruit & Pipfruit – time for a clean-up spray with Freeflow Copper and Enspray 99 to deal to any residual pests and fungus problems. Blackberries and raspberries can be cut down to almost ground level. Prepare garden beds for Roses, new fruit trees, deciduous trees and shrubs – use Daltons Nutrient-Enriched Compost, Real Blood & Bone, and Dolomite Lime.
Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food is a complete liquid plant food that provides plants with the balanced nutrition they need to produce strong, healthy growth and improved yields. Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food is a dual-action formula that feeds through both the leaves and roots as you water. It works quickly, so you see results sooner.
A blend of sheep manure and humate. Add rich organic matter to improve soil structure, encourage earthworms and nourish your plants. Get all the goodies from the sheep manure plus the valuable carbon/humic and fulvic from the humate. Ideal for citrus trees and shrubs.
Egmont's Dried Blood is ideal for vegetable crops. Great source of organic nitrogen and iron which is important for photosynthesis, plant development and cell growth. Apply 30g (approx 3 tablespoons) per square metre, or a teaspoon around individual plants.
TIME TO PROTECT...
Protect soil from erosion and nutrient loss from leaching by putting mulch on bare soil. Grass clippings trap warmth and moisture but don’t trample the clippings to avoid creating anaerobic conditions. Protect emerging seedlings from birds with netting or cloches. Cauliflowers — bend the large outer leaves over the plant’s centre to protect the curd from frost. Use seaweed sprays as part of a broader plant health regime to increase plant vitality and avoid disease.
Watch out for rust on leeks and spring onions in Winter. Organic Super Sulphur is the best remedy. Protect fruit trees with free-flow copper to eliminate residual fungal diseases (leaf curl, bacterial blast, leaf spot). Ensure thorough coverage, esp in bark crevices where fungi can hide.
Slugs won’t be sluggish in the colder temperatures so check out the base of your winter vege plants home, and put some slug bait down. Newly planted Violas are getting attacked by slugs – same for the Delphiniums at home which have put on new growth. If you’re nervous about pets and slug bait then use Quash, which is safer for pets and children.
KIWICARE – Organic Super Sulphur – 200g
Organic control of diseases - powdery mildew, blackspot and rust. Plus control of moss, lichen and mites. For use on fruit trees, vegetables and roses.
FreeFlo Copper Fungicide – 100g, 200g
A protectant fungicide for the control of a range of fungal and bacterial diseases on citrus, pipfruit, stonefruit, vegetables and roses.
TIME TO CONTROL...
Carrots, and potatoes can be badly affected by wire worm. Rest the garden bed and sow mustard as a winter green crop. — Green crops can still be planted as the temperatures are remaining mild for germination — blue lupins, mustard, and a triple combo of those two plus garden barley. Dig in the mustrard green crop in during early spring just before flowering, to release a biofumigant to deal to wireworms.
Burnet's Green Feed Mustard Seed
Mustard aids in the natural control of wireworm, nematodes etc, which are problems often associated with root crops. Mustard also reduces the chances of any soil borne diseases within 40 days of digging in. Good for use on Vegetable Gardens, Flower Beds and New Sections. Using the plant life to replace lost nutrients in the soil, encourages earthworms and other beneficial micro-organisms to your garden, thus putting life back into any exhausted/virgin soils. These seeds are not pasteurised.
TIME TO PRUNE...
Cut summer-fruiting raspberries, boysenberries etc, leaving the strongest canes for next season’s fruiting. Autumn-fruiting raspberries can be cut to the ground in winter.
ARS CB-8Z Pruning shears