(September in the Southern Hemisphere and March in
the Northern)
As we come into September, early spring here in New
Zealand, it’s time to get the first of our main plantings in the ground. It’s
a good time to rotate your garden beds – if you use the Crop Rotation Poster
then follow the plan and it will keep you on track with where everything should
go but you don’t have to necessarily build a garden exactly like this. It
doesn’t suit everyone – but the principles of rotating families of plants
will be the same.
For me, and my garden at Bellbird Hill, I am
finally getting raised beds and paths. I have been making do for the
past few years as we have not been living on the property and have not been
able to pay full attention to it, but its all coming together now. In
fact the garden is going in before the house – priorities sorted. My 4
central beds are 4x3m and that is quite big. You could easily keep the
proportions but take the size down to fit what you have – say 3x2m.
That’s the beauty of creating gardens. Each one will be unique to fit in
with the space you have plus all the other variables that go into making a
garden. I also definitely recommend paved paths rather than
grass. It just reduces the amount of work needed and you want to be
spending your time on growing food for the family – not mowing paths.
I have now done a full 4-year cycle. So back to
Year 1! Which means in Bed 1, the top left bed, I have sown peas,
broad beans and left a patch for sweetcorn. The other space will be
French beans, both dwarf and standard which won’t go in until November when the
soil has warmed up. Runner beans will go in the border where they can
climb up the fence. Peas and Broad beans prefer cooler temperatures to grow in so
as we lifted carrots, beetroot and parsnip (root crops previously grown in this
bed) I got the legume seed in. And of course the nitrogen fixing qualities
of the beans will enliven the soil ready for the following years crop of leafy
greens.
Year 1. Bed 2,
Bottom left, is for green leafy vegetables that
follow on from where we grew legumes last year. You probably will
still have silverbeet (Chard) growing in another bed from the previous season
so time to get some more in in your newly prepared bed. We grew some
gorgeous rainbow silverbeet from which we collected seed in autumn so will be
getting that sown into punnets this month. I will also be popping some
seedlings in to get a head start. Spinach can go in as well. The hens are
starting to lay and there is nothing like poached eggs and freshly picked
spinach for breakfast. The joys of growing your own! Succession sowing
and planting of brassicas can go in now for autumn and winter eating. The
traditional spacing of brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower or kale is to
make the space between the rows as wide as the plants will grow in height. As
they will be in the ground for a long time, this means that you have these big
gaps of bare ground that you have to keep weeded or mulched for that
time. A good idea is to interplant with quicker growing crops such as
lettuces and other salad greens. They don’t take as long to grow and
actually lettuces appreciate a little shade, as they tend to bolt if too
hot.
Year 1. Bed 3.
This bed is where the heat loving
Mediterranean vegetables will be going so too early to plant anything yet but
keep getting the soil ready. No lime where you are planning on planting
tomatoes but plenty of well-rotted manure, compost etc. Pumpkins and
courgettes are heavy feeders and like plenty of moisture so lots of humus and
carbon in the soil will hold the moisture. If the bed is empty, turn a
corner into a compost area and cover with black cloth to heat it up. If
you sowed a green crop get it dug in now to give the soil time to be ready for
late October planting. Sow seed for these crops now but they will have to
be in a hothouse or inside where its warm.
Year 1, Bed 4.
Make sure this garden is well dug over for root
crops – no bulky manures where you want to plant tap roots such as carrots or
parsnips. You can divide the beds up into areas and give each one a bit
of special treatment. The allium family does like lots of feeding and
compost so put them on one side (onions, leeks, celery) and the other root
crops on the other. Plant a row of new potatoes if you have room – or plant
them in the side border. Get your earlies in now if you want to eat them
at Christmas time. Cliff Kidney, Jersey Bennes, Rocket etc.
Perennial Beds.
Rhubarb will need to be fed, mulched up with plenty
of manure and water if the weather is not bucketing down like it was in
Auckland when I was up there over winter. Which reminds me to remind you
– if your soil is sodden – don’t even bother working it. Occupy yourself
with sowing seeds indoors so you will be ready once conditions are more
suitable. If you must do something put a plank down to walk on and keep
any disturbance to a minimum. Strawberries will need to be weed free and
have fresh straw down. I have my first asparagus spear up already! It
seems early but it might be because we put down a good mulch of beautiful black
compost that warmed the soil up. So exciting. Who needs to go out
when you can stay home and watch your asparagus spears growing?
So, lots to do and as the days get longer and the
weather warmer and more settled, nature sees to it that you will want to be out
in the garden. Enjoy spring and the promise it brings.
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