Time to Sow your Seeds

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It is now time to start to sow your seeds for a Spring, Summer Harvest. Make sure you sow your seeds in a warm area such as a glass house or even indoors. We have just sowed Chilli’s, Peppers, Snowpea, and a few other Vegetables. They should be ready to plant for early to mid spring. It’s also a good time to get rid of any weeds or dig out a new garden before the weeds take control over the spring growing season, which is a great time for weeds to grow. If you are proactive now then you will find less work in the future.

Frost Resistant Vegetables

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Keran’s choices of Veges which like or can handle the cooler weather

  • Broccoli – It like’s the cooler weather and with thick tough leafs handles some of the worst weather. Cut the head but leave some shoots on the side this will ensure you get more edible heads from the one plant.
  • Cabbage – With its hardy leafs it will handle the cooler weather
  • Carrot - Though often seen as a more summer vege, the carrot in fact gets sweeter as the temperature drops, try planting later.
  • Lettuce – With so many varieties this can be grown all year round and in cooler weather.
  • Radish – This is a very fast growing plant, often only taking a month from seed. This can be grown in cooler weather.
  • Swiss Chard – A very hardy and pretty Vege, this grows well and can handle frost.
  • Spinach – Best time to start to grow it is in mid-winter so that it is ready for early Spring.

This is only a handful of Vegetables that can handle the cooler months but is a good starting point.

Growing Vegetables in Winter

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Found this good article on Growing Veges in Winter:

Winter – the time when you benefit from all those late summer and autumn planted crops – the last of the French beans, lovely heads of green broccoli, Savoy cabbages, carrots, leeks etc. – all should be ready from now on. Well, what to do in the vege garden now that winter is more or less here. Its often hard to get excited about Vegetable Gardening this time of year as the nights are colder and the plant growth slows right down.

read the full article here

 

Preparing the soil for Vegetables

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Some Info on the right soil and area for the Vege Patch:

- Vegetables need around 6 – 8 hours of sunlight daily and need free draining Soil which gets around 1 inch of water weekly.  

- Adding 2-3 inches of old manure and compost (or well-rotted leaves, peat moss) to your soil in early spring prior to preparing the soil will not only improve drainage, but also make it fertile.
- If soil is undesirable, consider raised beds.
- If space is an issue, try container gardening and window boxes.
- Soil that is loamy, well drained, and high in organic matter is ideal for your vegetable garden.
- Prior to planting your vegetable garden, incorporate 20-30 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 1000 square feet (or amount indicated by your soil test).
- Clear out the area and make sure you try to clear all the weeds and debris out.
- In autumn rake some leaves up and spread some on top of the soil and dig them in. This is a natural way to compost some of the fallen leaves. By the time winter ends, the leaves will have broken down into organic material increasing the nutrient content of your soil for your vegetable plants.
- Worms in the soil are a great sign!