Delicious month in the garden.
Its
been a mixed season weather wise so far this summer so unless you were able to
keep water up to your garden you may notice differences from previous years in
harvesting. My potatoes were later this year due to the cold snap in November
but they are still going and still delicious!
Harvest your early potatoes and keep mounding up main-crop ones giving
them a good mulch to keep protected from the burning sun. As you harvest your potatoes, dig over the
ground and sow a crop of onions.
Get
your garlic out of the ground as well if you haven’t already. By now it won’t be growing anymore and
leaving it in the ground will reduce quality and the likelihood that it will store
well. Dry off somewhere handy for a few weeks then brush off any leftover dirt,
trim the roots, braid and store in a dry spot.
I harvested my garlic in January as I planted it all on the shortest day
and dug it up not long after the longest day.
I was wondering what to follow it with so as it is still my root crop
rotation bed so I am experimenting to see if I can get another crop of potatoes
out of it before winter. This is the
great thing about the backyard vege patch – try things out and record what you
have done. Each patch is different – you just need to learn what works in
yours. You can also sow flowers or other quick growing crops in any bare
patches. Keeps away the weeds and provides another harvest before winter.
Talking
about weeds – the old adage about “one years seeds equals seven years weeds” is
true – especially when it comes to dock etc.
If you don’t have time to dig them out by the roots then at least snip
off the seed head and put into a bag for burning.
Jobs for this Month
Sow. Beetroot, bok choy, winter brassicas, carrots,
radishes, silver beet, swedes, turnips, onions.
Plant:
Punnets of winter brassicas, celery, leeks, lettuces, silverbeet, spinach.
Cultivate:
Keep hoeing when you can and mulching, knowing that the mulch will be dug in
over winter to build up your soil for the next season.
Harvest:
Lots to eat in February with all your fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes,
beans, courgettes, peppers, cucumbers, sweetcorn, potatoes and then pumpkins
coming into their own. Keep picking to extend the season. Then get busy preserving your harvest for
later use
Save:
Save seed also – select a really good plant, including herbs, and leave to go
to seed. Harvest on a warm dry day.
