Down to Earth: Summer salads
With the heat of summer here it feels like the season for lots of swimming, cool drinks and summer salads. Those salad plants left to self-seed will be popping up all over the garden and can be easily moved. Otherwise many seeds and seedlings are available to make up a great summer salad. Here are a few of my favourites:
· Lettuces: Green and red cos (upright, tight leaf), red and green salad bowl (pick outer leaves for ages), red/purple and green oak leaf (tight upright leaf), canasta, four seasons and buttercrunch (heading types).
· Rocket (arugula): best direct-sown now in semi-shady spot.
· Mizuna and mibuna (Asian greens): Same as for rocket.
· Endives: Tres fine is a great compact variety of this bitter green, which is a great addition to our diet.
· Chicory (radicchio): Palla rosa is a heading type with rich deep red and white leaves. Another bitter green.
· Parsley: Italian (flat leaf) and Dalmation are nice varieties.
· Coriander: This spicy green is also best direct sown.
Fruit care:
· Protect young subtropicals from wind.
· Prune citrus when harvesting, grass mulch and urinate by them!
· Summer-prune trees and thin fruits.
· Prune out old canes off berry fruits. Select and tie up only strongest new season canes.
· Tip grapes and passionfruit runners.
· Mulch fruit trees and berries.
· Replace pheromone traps in orchards.
· Watch out for silverleaf in fruit trees and insert bio-dowels into trunks (trade name vinevax @ Fruit Fed).
· Remove diseased wood and fruit and burn.
Herb Care:
· Weed and mulch.
· Clip back perennials to encourage fresh growth and dry and store for winter use (eg thyme and sage).
· Sow annual herbs. Direct sow dill, parsley and coriander for best results. Transplant self-seeded herbs.
Vegetable Care:
· Plant winter crops now, eg broccoli, kale and cabbage.
· Water well early morning (especially fruiting crops, eg beans) every few days, or as required.
· Liquid fertilise weekly, especially fruit crops.
· Sow summer green crops (lupin, buckwheat, mustard, rye corn) on vacant beds for autumn plantings.
· Weed and mulch.
· Stay observant for pests and diseases, removing affected parts/plants to avoid spread.
· For caterpillar pests on brassicas (cabbages etc) spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) every 2-3 days.
· Delateral tomatoes and cucumbers and tie/train up stakes.
· Mound celery and potatoes (or mulch with straw/grass).
· Thin carrots and eat, allowing rest to get bigger. Mound soil up over shoulders to deter carrot rust fly.
· Hothouse: Keep ventilated. Use ground watering. Hang yellow sticky cards and remove pests by hand or with garlic and pyrethrum, or soap sprays.
· Harvest early potatoes, garlic, onions and shallots (when tops flop). Briefly sun dry alliums and hang dry. Store in cool, dry, shady place.
· Keep harvesting beans, zucchinis and peas to encourage ongoing cropping.
· Harvest sweet corn when tassels brown off.
· Tip pumpkins and melons when 3 fruits form to aid good fruit development.
· Let rocket, lettuce, mizuna, endive, coriander go to seed. Stake and tie up. Scatter seed around garden for ongoing crops.
Sow for transplanting: All seeds 8th February. Leafy greens (summer spinach, lettuce, endive, cabbages, silverbeet/rainbow chard and celery). Broccoli and early cauliflowers (also 15-16th Feb). Herbs: basil, parsley etc. Flowers.
Sow direct: All seeds 8th February. Radish, parsnip, carrots, beetroot (best 12th- 14th Feb). Spring onions, salads, silverbeet/chard (best 8th Feb). Late French/butter, cucumber and zucchini (also 9th- 11th Feb). Flowers, eg violas.
Plant: 5th February. Salad greens, spinach, celery, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, silverbeet/rainbow chard, beetroot and leeks. Late potatoes, tomatoes and zucchini. Annual herbs. Flowers.
General Garden Care:
· Mow lawns with mulch mower.
· Prune back flowering plants.
· Shred prunings.
· Weed and mulch ornamental areas.
· Make and turn composts.
Sol Morgan, GroWise Consultancy. Ph 525 9110.
