The Autumn Vegie Garden

Autumn’s a busy season in the vegetable garden. Summer crops are fading and it’s time to move on. Here are some timely tips for the autumn vegie patch:

Sow lettuce, radishes, spinach, turnips and leeks. Most can be started in pots and transplanted as the soil cools.
If space permits, take the opportunity to leave a section of the bed empty for a season. The old term ‘to let lie fallow’ meant that the field would be ploughed, manured then left unplanted until the next season. It’s a valuable practice so, if you can, clean out the summer crops, dig in some aged manure and leave the bed to rest for a few months.
Harvest the last of the tomatoes and dry for later use. Or cook and freeze pulped tomato in ice cube trays to add to winter dishes.
Pick pumpkins after their stalks have shrivelled. Leave in a sunny, dry spot to harden off before storing.
In warm areas, lift and divide rhubarb clumps in early autumn. Wait until the depths of winter in cold districts.
In acid soil districts (where azaleas flourish), mix some lime or, better still, dolomite into the soil. This will sweeten it slightly, which will suit most vegetables.
Grow something different in your vegetable bed. Yates Mizuna and Mibuna add piquant flavour to stirfries. Yates Edible Kale does best where winters are frosty, but is worth trying in warmer areas. Yates Japanese Turnip Hakurei is a sweet-flavoured favourite that bears little resemblance to its tough European turnip cousins
Check the Yates seed stand for broad beans. Even for beginners, these are some of the easiest vegetables to grow. And, because they’re legumes, the plants will enrich the soil, as well as producing the flavour-filled pods. Don’t like broad beans? That’s probably because you’ve never tasted them in their early stages when the beans are so sweet you can eat pod and all.
Autumn’s the season for planting onions and garlic.
Watch for pests, especially if the weather stays warm. Choose pesticides with care, making sure that they are suitable for your particular crop. Follow the withholding period (the time from spraying until harvest). Or look for products that have no withholding period. Examples are Baythroid Advanced for controlling sap suckers like aphids, Dipel for caterpillars and Lime Sulfur for powdery mildew, rust and mites.
Keep liquid feeding with Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid leafy vegetables and salad greens.

Vegies To Sow:

Winter Brassicas
Kale, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli can be sown now. Brussels sprout seedlings sown earlier from seed can be transplanted into the vegie patch. Most brassicas take a while to mature, but are well worth the wait. The fastest maturing brassicas include Cabbage Sugarloaf, which can be harvested in 8- 12 weeks and baby leaves of kale will be ready for picking in around 7 weeks.

Asian Greens
Quicker to mature than traditional cabbages and cauliflower, there’s Wombok or Chinese cabbage, white stem Buk Choy and quick growing Kailaan Chinese Broccoli . Try Yates Asian Stir Fry Mix, a blend of tasty Asian greens including Tatsoi, Chinese Broccoli and Chinese cabbage varieties, delicious in stir fries and young leaves can be harvested for salads.

Peas
Sow peas directly into damp soil in the garden, then withhold water until you see green seedlings popping up. Peas like an alkaline soil, so apply some Yates Hydrangea Pinking Liquid Lime & Dolomite prior to sowing. Dwarf Greenfeast is a heavy cropper which doesn’t need staking. Sugar snap and Snow peas are delicious pod and all and will require a tripod of stakes to climb on.

Broad beans
Sow your broad beans directly in the garden in rows or clumps, and keep them moist but not overly wet. Coles Prolific is an abundant producer, and needs support for the tall stems.

Winter Salads
Some crisp, dark green slightly bitter salad leaves partner well with warming winter casseroles and pasta. Try tasty serrated leafed Mizuna and narrow dark green Mibuna which can be ready to harvest in just a few weeks from sowing. Repeat harvest regularly, the leaves have a mustardy flavor and taste best when young and tender.

Spinach
This delicious and nutritious leafy green enjoys the cooler weather. Winter Queen features large dark green leaves which mature in 8-10 weeks, but can be harvested when young for salads. Sow spinach seeds directly into the garden in clumps around 30cm – 40cm apart, then thin to the strongest seedlings in each group.

Leeks and Spring Onion
Perfect for warming winter soups, Welsh Wonder leeks can be sown directly into the garden in drills or raised in trays and transplanted when 10 cm high. They take around 12-20 weeks to mature, so sow some versatile Spring Onions in between which will be ready around 8 weeks.

Growing tips:

Feed vegies regularly during the growing season using Yates Thrive All Purpose Liquid Plant Food. It feeds through both the roots and the leaves as you water and encourages healthy green foliage and a strong root system. So start fertilising early to ensure you have a great crop and improved yields.

Check the seed packs for recommended spacings, and stagger plantings over several weeks to extend your harvest. Dewey nights and cooler conditions also means snails and slugs are about, so protect young plants using Yates Blitzem Snail & Slug Pellets.