What's growing on?

The weather has been great for veggie growers and the sun is just starting to peak through the clouds with some lovely spring days- perfect weather for being out in the garden! There are lots of wonderful things you can get stuck into this time of year in your garden. Scroll down for some excellent tips & info about what you can do in your garden during  September. 

We look forward to seeing you at one of our in person and online workshops coming soon. In the meantime, it would be lovely to see some photos of your veggie harvest or blossoming fruit trees shared on our Facebook page!

• If you have Winter veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower or silverbeet still growing, they will benefit from some liquid fertiliser (such as diluted worm 'wee' or fish emulsion such as Powerfeed), applied every 2-3 weeks. 
• As the weather warms, your winter veggies may begin to mature prematurely, also called 'bolting to seed'. Keep an eye on your crops, and if they look mature, you may want to harvest at a smaller size (eg broccoli head) rather than lose your harvest. Alternatively, let broccoli etc flower to feed the bees!
• Start planning for your Spring planting.  Consider what you will plant where, remembering that if you eat the fruit of the plant (eg. tomato, capsicum, eggplant, pumpkin), it needs a sunny position. If you eat the leaves (eg. lettuce, herbs), it can grow in part shade.
• Start preparing your veggie beds for Spring planting. Apply compost, well-rotted manure (cow, horse, sheep - a couple of buckets per square metre. Apply chicken manure more sparingly, around one large handful per square metre.) Mix into the top few centimetres of soil and allow beds to rest a couple of weeks before planting.
• When preparing soils, add fertilisers such as manures to suit the needs of the vegetables you will plant in an area. Add manures and compost to areas where you will plant heavy feeders such as tomatoes, capsicum, eggplants. For zucchinis, add only compost to avoid leafy growth and little fruit. 
• Keep your compost turning! Even when it’s cold, you can keep your compost ticking over by making sure it is well balanced with plenty of dry, brown matter such as fallen leaves and scrunched newspaper added. Turn it once a week with a garden fork. You can keep the temperature up by covering the compost under the lid with a layer of hessian or some sheets of newspaper to keep the heat in.
• If you have citrus trees, now is your last chance to treat citrus gall wasp. For tips on how to do this, check out this link from Gardening Australia
• If you have planted Summer veggie seeds in seed raising mix, you may want to transplant the seedlings into potting mix (which contains slow-release fertilisers). Alternatively, you can fertilise them with a weak dilution of worm wee or fish emulsion product (eg Powerfeed). 
• It’s still a little bit cold for planting Summer veggies in September or early October.... but if you would like to make a start, seedlings of chives, oregano and silverbeet, and seeds of carrots and sunflowers can be planted straight into veggie beds.
• For regular tips on growing seasonal veggies and fruit, 'like' and follow our Facebook page