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...
Gooseberries — love the winter cold which encourages good yields. Damp but well-drained soil, sun/semi-shade, prune after fruiting, thin to allow sun & air movement.
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, & 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 & re-pot).
TIME TO SOW...
Seeds — broad beans, brassicas (plant for spring harvesting), garlic, onions, winter lettuces, shallots. Enrich the soil with compost & sheep pellets. Peas — plant in zig zag form — better use of space, improves airflow to reduce risk of mildew, & allows more sunlight in.
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.
Garlic Grow — How: doesn’t have to be planted traditionally on the shortest day but any time in March–July. Sun + 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 & care regime as garlic, nitrogen-rich fert in late winter, regular watering (ease off watering pre-harvest in summer allowing bulbs to dry out.)
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).
TIME TO PROTECT...
Protect emerging seedlings from birds with netting or cloches. 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. Use seaweed sprays as part of a broader plant health regime to increase plant vitality and avoid disease. Cauliflowers — bend the large outer leaves over the plant’s centre to protect the curd from frost. Soil — protect from erosion and nutrient loss from leaching by putting mulch on bare soil. Grass clippings trap warmth & moisture but don’t trample the clippings to avoid creating anaerobic conditions.
TIME TO CONTROL...
Weeds as garlic hates competition, wireworms in carrots & potatoes — plant mustard as a winter greencrop. Dig them in during early spring as they release biofumigant to deal to wireworms. Leaves — use them in the compost bin as a good source of carbon.
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.