June
Planning the Family Vegetable Garden.
June
has arrived and with it the cooler weather. Time for staying indoors and
planning for the growing year to come. If you have been thinking about putting
in a family vegetable garden now is the time to start to work out what you may
want to plant when spring arrives.
It is
possible in New Zealand to have something in the garden all year round so
that’s a good goal to work towards, but do consider what your family likes to
eat. There’s no point in growing
sacks of Brussels Sprouts if no one is going to eat them (except grandparents)!
So get
everyone together this month and start a list of the foods that your family
enjoys and will want to grow. It
is surprising what children will eat once they have had a hand in the whole
process of growing it. Some good basics to get you started are beans, peas,
corn, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, beetroot, cabbages, broccoli tomatoes and
strawberries. Even if you don’t
have children this is a good place to start. Get that list on the fridge and
get the family involved!
Jobs for June
Sow;
Sow another row of broad beans. Trick is to sow another row as the previous one
emerges. Sow indoors; brassicas
such as broccoli, cabbage, cauli and bok choy. They will be slow and you can’t
plant until spring but it is a bit of a head start.
Plant:
Mid Winter’s Day (21st
June) is the traditional planting time for garlic so get some nice fat corms
ready and plant 5 cms deep,10 cms apart. (Don’t use Chinese supermarket garlic – it is treated and
won’t sprout.) Shallots can be planted either 5-10cms apart or in clumps but do
not bury – press into soil with tops still showing. Plant brassica seedlings
such as broccoli and cabbage, cauli and bok choy for spring eating. Strawberry plants can go in now as
well.
Cultivate:
Use liquid manure to feed your leeks. Keep weeded and mounded up. Cut back
asparagus fern, weed and mulch crowns. Split big clumps of rhubarb and replant.
Keep weeds hoed, green crops sown and mulches laid.
Harvest:
Silverbeet and spinach, broccoli, cabbage
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