August 2022 Kitchen Garden Guide

 

August heralds the coming of the light, where the sun is a little higher in the sky and daylight hours are lengthening. Lengthening days and strengthening sun bring energy to life in the southern hemisphere. Along with climate trends and weather variations, these are what influence the arrival of spring. Here in Cygnet, cold winds often arrive, just when we start to enjoy a bit more sun so provide shelter for the edible garden, using hay bales, for example.

Insects, fungus, birds and other annoyances

We walk in the forests and marvel at the beautiful fungi but we don’t like curly leaf appearing on our fruit trees, as a result of other fungi. The difference is that, in the forests, life is in balance. If anyone starts getting too big for their boots, other creatures will bring things back into line.

We can toss cold ash from our fires about the place in autumn under fruit trees and use a woody rather than straw mulch. We can attract predators, like lacewings, by planting hiding places and breeding places for them, near or under our fruit trees. We can let the chooks range in about the fruit trees, to pick off emerging coddling moth larvae. We can net individual trees to keep the birds and maybe the possums off during fruiting but we do need the little wrens, silver eyes and others to hop about on the bare branches all winter, picking off insect larvae, aphids etc and even those pesky blackbirds, rummaging about in the mulch, are doing more good than harm, during winter and spring. I do all these things and rarely have insect or disease problems but there are 3 relatively benign sprays that I use. Nothing is totally harmless. Do not be fooled by chemical companies that claim otherwise!

Curly leaf is best avoided by applying a copper spray several times before bud burst, after which it is too late. I use Burgundy Mix, as described many years ago by Peter Cundall:

1. Dissolve 50 gram of washing soda (from supermarket) in 2.5 litres of warm water.
2. Dissolve 50 grams copper sulphate in a separate 2.5 litres of water.
3. Slowly pour the dissolved washing soda into the dissolved copper sulphate.
4. This is Burgundy mixture. It is at its most effective strength when freshly mixed so must be used immediately or within a couple of days.
5. Spray thoroughly over and under the bare branches of peach, nectarine and other stone fruit trees to help control leaf curl and brown rot disease. It is also useful when sprayed over raspberry canes in late July/early August for control of raspberry rust and on apple trees that had scab last year.

The mixture colours the sprayed plants blue. The spray can withstand light rain but should be re-applied after persistent rain and done at least twice before any buds open. Do not spray once the leaves and flowers open. Read about copper accumulation in the soil and about lime sulphur alternative, on the Deep Green Permaculture website.

White oil

Into an empty jar pour a cup of ordinary cooking oil and ¼ cup of dishwashing liquid. Give it a good shake. It will turn white. That’s your white oil concentrate. It will last for a year or more. Label the container with the correct dilution rate – ‘one tablespoon per litre of water’. I use this for scale on my undercover, potted citrus and on indoor plants that get scale. It is very effective and simply blocks the pores of whatever it lands on.

Dipel

Dipel is a biological insecticide containing the naturally occurring microorganism Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki, that only effects caterpillars. It is wonderful sprayed on your brassicas to reduce cabbage moth caterpillars breeding up in spring and summer. It does not harm any other insects or animals.

Sowing Tomatoes

My favourite tomatoes for growing in chilly Cygnet are Black from Tula (big, black, solid, luscious, delicious and surprisingly reliable), Rouge de Marmande (medium, reliable, long season), Jaune Flammé (orange, medium to smallish, delicious, very prolific, long season). Many others are suitable too. Check out Dave’s Seeds website and facebook page.

I have written about sowing tomatoes many times. The gist of it is:

1.   They really do need bottom heat for good germination. Use a brewer’s mat or terrarium mat or silicone terrarium tube or lash out on a heated seed raising kit.

2.   Covering the seed tray with a sheet of glass before germination keeps moisture in and rodents out. This applies to all seed sowing.

3.   Once germinated, they need LOTS of sun plus the heat mat. Water sparingly. Use warm water. Water with a weak liquid feed every couple of weeks.

4.   Pay attention to how they look. Spindly = need more sun. Yellow = too much water. Not growing = need more warmth or food.

Herbs

“Herbs maketh the meal” Kate, 2022

Parsley and walnut pesto, sage leaf chips, salsa verde, tarragon and orange salad, rosemary sourdough, pistou soup, dill cucumbers, bay leaves in vodka etc etc all need to be in your mind when you think about your edible garden. Herbs are not just extras, they are integral to making food memorable.

In these days of rising prices, grow what is expensive to buy. Herbs grow so easily and are so much more tasty picked directly from outside your kitchen door, rather than from a shop. Don’t just plant one of each, plant 6! Put aside a whole garden edge for garlic chives, fill spaces between young brassicas with parsley. Create an area solely for evergreen herbs like rosemary, sage, marjoram, fennel, sorrel and be adventurous. Lovage is fantastic!

 

Plant and sow in August   Plant rhubarb, strawberry runners, raspberry canes, asparagus and get all deciduous trees and shrubs in before they leaf.   Start sowing summer vegetables with bottom heat: ·         Tomatoes ·         Capsicums ·         Chillis ·         Eggplants…. Good luck! And while you are waiting for them to mature, why not grow some sprouts in the kitchen for a nutritious and delicious treat for your taste buds and body…. lentils, chickpeas, fenugreek, buckwheat   Sow now in trays to plant out later: ·         Onions including red, salad, spring and most others ·         Broad beans (it is not too late) ·         Coriander ·         Brassicas ·         Asian greens ·         Lettuces ·         Peas to eat and as pea shoot microgreens

December 2017 Kitchen Garden Guide

Hot, very hot and dry. Suddenly cold. Then windy and VERY wet for days and days. Now warm again! What a couple of weeks we have had and if your body is out of kilter, think for a moment about your garden. At least you could go inside and avoid the worst of it!

Priorities

Garlic: Garlic does not like to be wet once its bulbs are maturing! Now it is saturated at the worst possible time. I pulled my early garlic last week when I heard the forecast. Now I am going to check my mid season and late season garlics by digging up a couple. If you see any signs of the stem going floppy or if your soil is clay (and therefore waterlogged and devoid of oxygen) dig them immediately and lay out in a tin shed to thoroughly dry off. For good storage, garlic needs to be firm and dry. 

Once you have harvested your garlic, plant out with other lime-lovers such as broccoli and be sure to plant amongst some camouflage like marigolds and leeks and add an aphid repellant too, like nasturtiums. There is more on this, below.

Tomatoes: There may be outbreaks of diseases so check regularly, over the next couple of weeks, for yellowing leaves, general wilt, spotty or curled leaves or purple leaf veins. Pick off any affected leaves and dispose of. Some of these symptoms may mean the plants should be relaced. A dose of liquid seaweed solution could help them fight off diseases. Listen to Peter Cundall’s radio show as I bet he will be inundated with questions about too much rain in the vegie garden.

Beans: If, like me, you sowed beans only a day or 2 before the big rain, the bean seeds may rot before they germinate. If the seedlings have not emerged soon, dig in with your finger and have a look so you can re-sow quickly, while the soil is deliciously damp, if needs be. Now is the perfect time to sow beans, after rain. Do not water until they emerge.

Mildew and other fungal attacks

Usually these come towards the end of the summer, when plants like zucchinis are coming to the end but this wet then warm weather may breed up spores very quickly. I use a spray of 1 part milk to 9 parts water, thoroughly over the leaves but I have also recently heard of using carb soda to ward off mildew on gooseberries. Check out the Gardening Australia website for more on this.

Plant out in the damp soil

Sow and plant cucumbers, zucchinis, corn, sunflowers, salad greens, herbs, flowers and everything you can get your hands on. After rain is the best time to get plants going. Even though the soil is still damp, always water your seedlings in. Why? Because every tiny root hair needs to be in contact with the soil to work its magic and extract nutrients from the soil. Watering in is the only way to ensure this happens.

Camouflage, deception and more

Sow brassicas now, in pots, for next winter’s broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage and Brussels sprouts harvest. As they emerge, keep them covered with netting to keep those pesky cabbage moths away or cut out little moth shapes from white plastic (eg icecream or yoghurt containers) and string them about to fool the moths into thinking there are already moths in that area. I have some larger broccoli plants in pots, ready to plant out (heaven only knows why I grew them this time of year!). I will dot them about amongst lettuce, herbs and tall flowers like cosmos so that the moths cannot fly overhead and immediately pick out a row of broccoli to lay their eggs on. Camouflage also works for distracting birds away from my raspberries, some of which are overhung by tree mallows and others are along one side of a large apple tree. I am a seriously lazy gardener and try to use nature as my ally.

Growing Basil ….

Unpredictable and tricky until you find what works, basil is loved by everyone! Here is what I have discovered works for me: I sow in trays in December, only the large leaf varieties such as Genovese and Lettuce Leaf which grow fast in our climate and have fabulous flavour. The seeds take a while to germinate so be patient, keep the soil damp but not wet. Once germinated, water with a weak seaweed solution until they are big enough to transplant. I put several plants into each 20cm pot with a rich potting mix and keep them in my little hot house, as they hate the cold. I like to have 6 pots, some sown early Dec. and some later. They don’t mind a bit of shade as long as it is nice and warm and if you live somewhere consistently warmer than my place they may be fine outside. Don’t overwater and do pick regularly.

December Jobs	January Jobs
Sow seeds: beans, squash, cucumbers, basil, carrots, celery, lettuce, leeks, parsley, sunflowers, radish, parsnip, pumpkin, chicory.	Sow seeds: Lots of winter veg benefit from summer sowing so they reach a good size to plant out in autumn: fennel, Brussel sprouts, red cabbage, leeks, kale, beetroot.
Plant out: corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, other veg seedlings, potatoes, potted herbs, Basil: keep in greenhouse in good sized pots with rich soil and water well but allow to drain well before watering again.   Fill in spaces with flowers, comfrey, daisies, herbs and love.	Dec and Jan: -      Mulch vegetable garden well, preferably with old hay -      Mulch fruit trees well, preferably with bark chips -      Feed food garden with seaweed solution for pest resistance and fish emulsion or home made brews -      Harvest and enjoy!