June In The Vegie Patch + Greenhouse

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winter missions

I’m not the only one who loves winter. Some legumes are good with it and so are alliums, brassica’s, chard, endive, parsley and all manner of leafy greens. Salads and beetroot survive it, but very slowly so if you live in cooler places, best get them under cover from now on in.

Sow

Direct Sow

  • Greencrops in any gaps – such easy fertility! Make a mixture and sow any gaps (even tiny ones!), and beneath nearly finished crops, so that when you remove the crop, the greencrop will continue the soil cover. This is called a living mulch, and is the best of all mulches. At any stage of its growth, make little pockets in it, dollop compost and plant. A mixed greencrop is very best because it attracts a diversity of soil life, and the bigger the mix of soil life, the stronger your soil. Team together a nitrogen fixer like lupin or broadbeans + a beneficial flower like cornflower or calendula + a taproot like parsnip or daikon + a groundcover like kale or phacelia + a soil cleanser like radish or mustard.
  • Mizuna – such a good value leafy green!
  • I sow rocket and coriander in the greenhouse from now on in, but if its warm enough at yours – get some outside.

Tray Sow

Direct or Tray Sow

  • Broadbeans
  • Spinach, bok choy and beetroot, in the warmth of the greenhouse if needs be.

Transplant

  • Broadbeans, peas and brassicas for a spring eating.
  • Garlic, spring onions, shallots, potato onions, red onions or brown onions
  • Spinach, beetroot, saladings, bok choy, gai lan – in the greenhouse or under a cloche, to speed growth along.
  • Asparagus crowns for future springs. Visit your local asparagus grower to purchase unless you have the patience to grow your own from seed.

Harvest

Broccoli

broccoli shoots - such a useful harvest

Late summer planted broccoli are providing loads of useful shoots – they’re so big hearted, they give and give! Once the main broccoli head has been harvested, many side shoots will spring forth. Harvesting regularly is a win for longevity – it prevents them heading off to seed which signals the end of the shoots. Each successive round of shoots decreases in size, but they become more plentiful. For the most shoots, leave as much central stem as you can when you take the main head.

Whenever you go out to harvest, remove old ratty leaves and thin out older branches by cutting them right off where they meet the stem. This opens the plant to light and air, keeps it stocky and stimulates fresh, green productive shoots. In this way you can keep broccoli plants going for years.

Leeks

The garden fork stays by the leeks to make harvest easy

Leeks are at peak perfection right now. The roots really hold onto the soil, so slide a fork in to loosen things up first, then hold the tops and lever them out. I cut the tops and roots while out in the garden and pop them on the compost. Rinsing leeks at the outside tap saves mud in the kitchen!

Parsnips

parsnips and carrots trimmed and cleaned, ready for the kitchen

Parsnips are better by far after the first frost, but still lovely in frost free gardens. Use a tool to help lever them out of the ground – they can get really long, and in order to get them out whole, its easier to first loosen the soil. A forksta is awesome if you have one, otherwise a garden fork.

Yams

yam harvest ediblebackyard nz

I’m so grateful to yams because they’re ready in winter – not busy old autumn. And there’s no preserving required either. Just patience.

Yams fatten up threefold in the cold. Guaranteed big fat sweeties after a few frosts and the tops have died off.  If you’ve rushed in to harvest and been disappointed with your crop – it may just be that you were too impetuous, young at heart perhaps. You’ll be amazed at what happens in the yam patch after cold. Patience my friends.

In praise of Kale

red russian kale ediblebackyard nz

Such a useful plant – nourishing food, weed reducing groundcover, aphid attractor and an easy source of homegrown OM.

  • plant closely in groups to cover any bare spaces.
  • team with lupin, daikon and phacelia for a robust winter greenmanure.
  • eat it
  • feed it to the chooks
  • harvest for mulch or compost ingredient as you need

Winter Missions

cardbpard spread out ready to cover with deep mulch
Increasing this perennial area a little more each year by simply laying cardboard on top the grass and spreading a woody mulch thickly before planting into the mulch.

Clean and sharpen spades and pruning tools. Once a year is better than never, and sharp edges are a treat. They’re heaps better for your body, and your trees too, making for clean cuts that heal fast.

If you haven’t done it already, prep your asparagus for spring.

If you are at the basemap, beginning phase of creating your gardens (so exciting!), dont rush into tree planting + bed building – use the winter to closely observe your land. Gather information my friends – more thought now = heaps less problems later.

  • Where is the winter sun? How important is this knowledge! Your greenhouse, chooks, winter fruiters and subtropicals must be located in winter sun. You must be able to describe the path the sun takes year round, at your place before creating your gardens.
  • Where is the winter shade? Deciduous trees and many perennials, can handle a bit of winter shade.
  • Where is the land boggy and where is well drained, inspite of the rain?
  • Where does the frost sit? No subtropicals or early fruit trees planted here!
  • And what about the winds? Key knowledge for creating kick ass shelter.

Choose a few garden improvements to take care of this winter. If you’re at the start of your garden journey it’ll be the big impact, important stuff like drainage, shelter, clearing out the trees + structures that block light or flow, tree + plant research, and making a basemap (design). If those missions are all ticked off, you’re into the fun business of dividing and planting out perennials, making new beds, irrigation, stock + chicken improvements and planting trees – ticking away with the stuff that makes our gardens high performing. Indulge yourself. Re-organise your patch, give those improvements wings while there is sod all to do in the vegie patch.

The Greenhouse

chooksingreenhouse

It’s the chooks favourite time of year! They hit the greenhouse once the mustard greencrops (sown in April beneath the summer crops) are over their heads. I separate the chooks from crops (saladings, celery, beetroot, spinach, potatoes), by pegging birdnet to the overhead wires. They’ll have access here until August – weeding, bug hunting, fertilising and making compost for the summer greenhouse crops.

If you don’t have chooks, slash the greencrops down, spread compost, sow a mixed greencrop and scatter the slash back on as mulch. Living roots are the fastest way to fertile, stable soils.