It’s not too late to start prepping the winter veggie garden, gardening guru Kath Irvine says.
And a bit of garden bed management will see you harvesting happily throughout the colder months, Irvine from Edible Backyard told Susie Ferguson.
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First of all is remember to plant what you eat, she says.
“Sometimes it's easy to look at all those seedlings and just grab a whole lot without actually processing do I eat this or not? The first thing I'd like to suggest when you go out to get your seedlings is really choose things that you eat.”
Mix up longer growers with soon-to eat crops, she says.
“In the winter garden, you'd be looking at combinations like planting some broccolis, maybe some cabbages, which are going to be ready down the line, and alongside them in the very same bed at their feet, you can plant some soon-to-be-ready quick leafy greens like bok choy and pak choy those kinds of Asian greens or mizuna salads, if it's warmer at your place, can go at their feet. All these things will be ready in about six weeks’ time.”
You’ve probably missed the boat for root vegetables down south, but the middle and north of the motu can still get carrots, beetroot and even parsnips in the ground, she says.
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Onions can go in too, she says, as can garlic.
“It’s a good idea to get your garlic in now because there's not many places in the country that are free from the dreaded rust. One thing we can do to beat that is to plant it early, so that by time the rust arrives in spring, you've already got a really good good-sized bulb.”
There’s a great variety of winters greens available now, she says.
“The range of greens that you can get has really extended a lot beyond iceberg lettuce and there's a lot of really fun things. I love lamb’s cress in my winter salads, miner's lettuce is an absolute star.”
Winter lovers, rocket, coriander and parsley can all pack a flavour punch in your dinners, she says. And lant winter stuff among the summer crops that are still producing.
“You want to be leaving all your productive plants in place so you can still be harvesting those last tomatoes and those last zucchinis don't take them out. But give them a really good trim up and get rid of all the old foliage.
“And with some of the vining plants, you can even make room by sort of wiggling them out of the way around the edge of the garden, if crops are finished, just chop them off at the roots leave those roots in the ground, they're doing a really important job of stabilising the soil.”
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If you want to rest a bed, the best way is planting a green cover crop, she says.
“The old thing of spreading manure over the bed is a bit old hat now we know that what happens is we just lose a lot of the goodness because there's no roots there to grab on and hold on to it.
“So, get a mixed green crop on your bed, just chop your crops off, leave the roots and sprinkle your green crop over your bed. And that's the very best way to nourish it for winter and then in the spring, you can just plant amongst that green crop make little pockets in that green crop, a dollop of compost, put your transplants in and watch them grow.”
