Winter Vegetables

Autumn. Warm Days, cool nights. Perfect for vegetable planting.

 

By now your vegetable patch has been freshly composted and manured. It’s just waiting for you to plant out.

The basic cool season vegetables that I find grow well in most areas are –  broccoli, beetroot (my favourite), cabbage, cauliflower, leek, onions, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, snow peas, strawberries (my other favourite), peas, kale and rhubarb. 

 

If you don’t get a frost or you can cover your vegetables - beans, lettuce, capsicum and tomatoes can also be grown.

 

If you get really cold you can give brussels sprouts a go.

This is the basic vegetable range; there are so many different variations on these classic cooler weather vegetables.

 

In seedlings alone you can get about four different versions of broccoli. 

 

If you start using old fashioned open pollinated seeds the list can be endless. 

If your vegetable patch consists of a variety of different sized pots don’t worry, there is a large range of dwarf vegetables available in seedlings and seeds. 

 

Leek, lettuce, capsicums, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, snow peas, strawberries, peas and rhubarb all grow well in pots without needing dwarf varieties.  

 

The secret to growing any vegetables in pots follows the same principles as growing in the ground. 

 

Start with the best quality soil or potting mix, mulch with an organic material (I like organic sugar cane mulch that is free from weeds), fertilise with a complete organic slow release fertiliser and liquid fertilise fortnightly with a complete organic liquid fertiliser. 

 

I like using the Plant of Health range of fertilisers – Organic Link and Triple Boost and Searles' range of garden soil and potting mix - Peat 80 Plus

I find the cooler months are the best time for growing herbs.  Nearly all the herbs are available now. Herbs grow well in the garden or in pots and most herbs can be grouped together in pots to make mini herb gardens. 

The best thing about growing cool season vegetables is that it’s usually too cold for the pests to be out and about.  If you do get a few pests a pyrethrum based spray or one of the new organic sprays like eco oil or eco fend work well.  Mildew and mould is a common problem during wet winters - copper spray (some are considered organic) can be the best solution. 

 

I have heard that having pretend white butterflies in your vegetable patch not only looks pretty but helps deter moths.

Remember though the healthier the soil, the healthier the plants and the less likely you are to get problems. Now get outside and get dirty!

The Dirty Dozen

I'm getting a little gardening bored. It's still too early to be planting my winter vegetables and my vegetable patch is cleaned, composted, mulched and waiting. My few gardens are fertilised, trimmed and waiting for cooler weather to start planting out more. My lawns are fertilised, soil wetted and weed killed - just waiting on rain to green them up. 

So what does one do when garden bored - they start dreaming big. I think I have about 40 seed packets of the things I'd like to grow this winter. 

So I may have gotten a little over excited. So how do I narrow it down? 

Lucky for me I came across an interesting article on the extremely high amounts of pesticide residue on frozen berries. The interesting thing was most of the residue of pesticides banned in Australia. This happens because most frozen berry companies get their berries from a variety of overseas sources. 

The old mind clogs started turning over and after a bit more research I discovered the 'Dirty Dozen' and the 'Clean Fifteen'.

These are two lists released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) each year.

 The Dirty Dozen, a list of the fruits and vegetables likely to contain the highest amounts of pesticide residue. The Clean 15 is a list of fruits and vegetables least likely to contain pesticides.

The EWG take into account how people typically wash and prepare produce - for example, apples were washed and bananas peeled before testing.

The “Dirty Dozen” for 2013 were (number one being the most highest in pesticide residue)

1. Apples

2. Strawberries

3. Grapes

4. Celery

5. Peaches

6. Spinach

7. Sweet bell peppers

8. Nectarines

9. Cucumbers

10. Potatoes

11. Cherry tomatoes

12. Hot peppers

The EWG also added kale/collard greens and summer squash as a plus last year as they may contain organophosphate insecticides, which EWG characterizes as "highly toxic" and of special concern. 

Did you know that all of these you can grow at home in pots or gardens?

Armed with this information planning my winter vegetable patch has become a little easier.  Apart from cucumbers all of the 'Dirty Dozen' can be grown at home this winter.  Cucumbers prefer warmer weather. 

I honestly don't know why cherry tomatoes are on the list. I have no idea why anyone would need to spray these. If anyone has ever grown cherry tomatoes you would know how easy these plants are and how unsusceptible they are to disease and insects. 

I have also potted a raspberry, a fig and a dwarf peach just for fun too. 

I know you are all wondering what the 'Clean fifteen' are. So here it is

1. Asparagus

2. Avocados

3. Cabbage

4. Cantaloupe

5. Sweet corn

6. Eggplant

7. Grapefruit

8. Kiwi

9. Mangoes

10. Mushrooms

11. Onions

12. Papayas

13. Pineapples

14. Sweet peas (frozen) 

15. Sweet potatoes

Don't get gardening bored, plan big and include the 'Dirty Dozen' in your backyard. 

Is Green Manure just really Green Poo?

Wonderful blistering hot days, humidity that feels like we should be living in tropics, rain and winds that blow your roof off then cool days that make us wonder if that 50 degree day was just in our imagination. 

This is what it feels like to live in Ipswich in the summer. 

How would you fare in this weather? Hot, bothered, quick tempered? 

I know I've been struggling, the smallest things bother me. 

If I had a vegetable patch right now, I know I'd be pulling most of it up. 

If the heat didn't kill everything off, the humidity probably would have. 

In years past when I have had a vegetable patch in summer I have suffered with burnt leaves, white mould all over my cucumbers, tomato blight and then to top it all off grubs in my fruit (from fruit fly stings).

Which is why at this time of year I always sow a summer green manure crop. 

Green manure crops are crops grown not to be harvested but instead to be incorporated into the soil before they reach maturity to contribute to the health of the soil. 

It is an old technique of soil management that seems to have been forgotten by many gardeners and farmers. I think it's because we are no longer aware of the proven benefits and cost effectiveness of green manure crops. 

Trevallan Lifestyle Centre stocks Eden Seeds, a seed company that only stocks old traditional open pollinated varieties of seed, preferably old Australian varieties and organically or bio-dynamically grown where possible.  The green manure seeds packs contain a mix of seeds.

Green manure crops contribute directly to the fertility of your vegetable patch through the supply of important plant nutrients. Legumes, for instance, supply nitrogen because their roots form an association with soil-borne bacteria that can transform nitrogen from the atmosphere into nitrogen compounds that can be used by plants. Isn't nature wonderful? It's also just saved you money as now you don't need to add as much fertiliser to your vegetable patch.

Green manure crops can also contribute indirectly to nutrient supply. Just the process of decomposition of the crop aids in making further nutrients available that are already present in the soil but in a form that cannot be used by plants.

 

After the plants have grown and you incorporate them back into the soil you are supplying vast amounts of organic matter that is usually supplied by organic mulches. Once again saving you money - no need to buy organic mulch. 

Drought resistance can also be improved as a lot of the crops are very deep rooted. Their roots can penetrate the subsoil and open it up. Next season's crops can also obtain plant nutrients from the subsoil once it is opened by deep rooted green manure crops.

So this weekend get dirty and take out all your hot weather anger on your vegetable patch by pulling everything up and planting some green manure crops. 

 

Your winter vegetables will thank you.