Peak of summer
Peak of summer harvest. Photo: Sol Morgan
With the beautiful sunny weather this last week, it truly seems that summer has arrived.
It’s been quite a busy time in the garden harvesting garlic, onions and shallots for keeping, as well as the abundance of summer fruits and vegetables. With enough TLC (training, watering and liquid fertilising), many of the vegetable crops in particular will continue to crop throughout February into March and possibly beyond.
Water will be an issue for some, even though many tanks will be pretty full after the extreme rainfall in December. I’m making sure gutters are clear, 200-litre drums are set up to collect water, and extra buckets are on hand to collect water while showering. And of course, mulching will help conserve soil moisture.
It’s not too late to get winter crops in. Prepare beds with lots of compost for winter brassicas, less for beets and leeks and just a little light tilling for root crops like parsnip and carrots. This will ensure you’re well supplied with these crops over the cold winter months.
The New Year usually gets me thinking about what I want to change in my life, and being a garden groupie, that includes my garden! More driftwood archways to train passionfruit over. More wooden edging on several beds, so I can mulch them more. A better frame for berries to climb over (665 mesh, I think). And I’ve just taken a soil test to ascertain the state of minerals in my garden soil. It’s often a nice idea to get a snapshot of mineral levels every few years so you know what to adjust when preparing beds, and what fertilisers to add to composts too. It’s best to always test at the same time of year, mind you.
Changes you could make may include a garden redesign, super-raised beds to reduce the bending, integrating fruits, flowers and herbs, or more fruit trees trained along the fenceline as an espalier. The list goes on.
At this time of year I also regularly sit outside in the semi-shade of a tree, with a nice cool drink in hand, a good book and enough time to contemplate future possibilities and admire the garden.
Fruit care
Keep irrigating fruits when dry, especially young trees.
Net fruits to protect from birds, eg plums.
Support heavily laden branches.
Summer-prune fruits.
Remove rotten fruit and prune out diseased branches. Burn this material.
Prune grapes back to five to six leaves after fruit.
Prune citrus when harvesting.
Cut down greenery around trees for mulch and airflow.
Foliar-feed fruits.
Spray neem oil for aphids and passion vine hopper infestations.
Spray Bt on berries vs caterpillar moth damage and copper oxychloride vs dry berry.
Band trunks of pipfruit with tree paste to capture moth grubs (see garden shop). Remove codlin moth-affected fruit and feed to chooks.
Insert trichodowels (Vinevax) vs silverleaf fungus.
Herb care
Harvest coriander seeds for cooking.
Sow herb seed directly, eg coriander and basil in hothouse.
Weed and mulch.
Vegetable care
Direct-sow last late French beans.
Water well in the early morning, every two to three days.
Liquid fertilise weekly, eg comfrey on eggplants.
Mulch with seaweed, seagrass, grass, old baleage or straw.
Hoe unmulched beds to disturb soil pests like cutworms.
Keep mounding potatoes and yams or mulch well. Lift trailing kumara runners or trim.
Thin and mound carrots. Scatter coffee grounds to deter carrot rust fly.
Delateral and train tomatoes and cucumbers.
Harvest late onions, sun-dry and hang.
Harvest shellout beans and hang-dry.
Harvest sweetcorn when tassels are brown.
Spray Bt on brassicas weekly.
Watch for shield bugs and remove, or use garlic and pyrethrum spray.
Plant flowers and annual herbs amongst vegetables.
Feed asparagus.
Make compost as you weed.
Hothouse (HH): Keep well ventilated, well watered (daily) and well fed. Hang yellow sticky cards for whitefly.
For transplanting: All seeds 6 Feb. Spring onions and leafy greens (spinach, spinach beet, silverbeet, lettuce, endive, cabbages, kale)(also 7 & 15 Feb). Cauliflower, broccoli and flowers, eg stock and wallflower (also 5 & 14 Feb).
Sow direct: All seeds 6 Feb. Salads and spring onions (also 7 & 15 Feb). Late zucchini and cucumbers (HH), French beans (also 9 Feb). Carrots, beetroot, radish and green crops (also 11-13 Feb). Flowers, eg dianthus and snapdragon (also also 5 & 14 Feb).
Plant: Best 17–29 Feb. Salad greens, spinach, cabbages, celery, leeks, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, late tomatoes and cucumbers (HH); zucchini and potatoes. Flowers, eg anemone and iris bulbs.
General garden care
Avoid mowing lawns too short.
Keep cutting comfrey leaves and top up liquid fertiliser drums.
Make and turn compost. Cover to conserve moisture.
Prune perennials and shrubs after flowering.
Trim hedges and mulch prunings.
Sol Morgan, GroWise Consultancy
