Autumn Seed Savers & What to Plant Now

The next 'Seedy Sunday' will be on Sunday 3 May from 10.30am - 12.00nn.

Thanks especially for Ted and Merryl's hospitality last month at their place. We had a great turn out and loads of seeds, plants, cuttings and tips shared around. Oh, and fabulous food!! Thanks to everyone for making it such an enjoyable meeting.

With the current rain and relatively warm soil temperatures, there are so many edible plants that are growing well in the garden right now. It's a great time to take cuttings to swap and share, sow moisture-loving vegies and herbs and apply soil conditioners.

Bring along:

• any seeds you have to process; 
• plants to sell/swap; 
• planting material such as cuttings or tubers; 
• surplus produce; 
• newspaper/carry bag to take goodies home.

Autumn Planting & Activities

With moisture now in the soil, temperatures cooling down and pest insects like grasshoppers slowing down, it's a wonderful time of year to fill your garden with winter vegetable seeds and seedlings.

That means less watering and work having to tend to pest and disease problems. Here are some activities and planting ideas for this month:

• Maximise summer/autumn growth by chopping back any plants that need a haircut. Arrowroot, comfrey, perennials and pruned shrubs/trees will all provide you with masses of nitrogen rich green material to build your compost. Chop woody prunings to use at the base of compost piles to help aeration and balance carbon. 

Arrowroot - chop and drop as mulch or add to compost as a nutrient accumulator

• Add soil conditioners and organic fertilisers to the soil during the rain to boost growth.
• Sow fast growing edibles like lettuce, rocket and other leafy greens to take advantage of soil moisture. Mulch well.
• Start preparing soil for planting bare-rooted fruit trees available in winter. They are much cheaper and quicker to establish.
• Citrus trees will benefit from another feed now. Remember to mulch your garden well.
• Nasturtiums love the cooler months and have so many uses. Make sure to sow some seeds in your garden now if you haven't already. Once you have them, they will self sow every year.

• Get all your brassica crops in now e.g. kale, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. 
• Remember to plant some American upland cress (also known as land cress) to attract the Cabbage White Butterflies to lay eggs on as a sacrificial plant. The leaves are toxic to the caterpillars so this ends the life cycle.   
• Plant herbs like coriander, dill, chives, mint, and parsley. They thrive in this weather. Give your other perennial herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, lemon grass and lemon-scented verbena a haircut to shape them and provide plenty of fresh herbs for teas or drying.
• If you can get your hands on some dragon fruit, pop them in now.
• Sow some flowers for winter pollination - here are a few suggestions.

What to Plant in May

Check out these guides for more options for planting this month:

Gardenate - Subtropical zone.

ABC Vegie Gardening Guide.

Aussie Organic Gardening.

Current Moon Cycle

To maximise your harvests, consider planting by the moon cycles. We are in a period of prolific growth for above ground plants until 2 May, so get planting with all that soil moisture! This is followed by a few days that are ideal to sow seeds for sprouts and microgreens. 7-8 & 14-15 May are the best times to tuck in root crops.

If you're planning on sowing seeds, seedlings, transplanting, taking cuttings, fertilising or dividing plants, this may help!

Learn more about the Benefits of Moon Gardening. Moon Calendars are available online any time for $12.50.

This month's Seed Savers Meeting

We meet at Sweethearts Cafe who offer us a large space to get together for free (saving us a hall hire fee so no cost to you) but as a business are in effect hiring out that area to us for a couple of hours.

So as a courtesy please remember to at the very least order a tea/coffee or a yummy breakfast, to support the cafe. They have a delicious local and organic menu. Visit their website for more info @ http://www.sweetheartscafe.com.au/aboutus.html.

Venue: 2 Anzac Street (cnr Rosebed Street), Eudlo.

FREE to attend so bring a friend and carpool! Hope to see you soon.

By Anne Gibson

February in the Garden & What to Plant Now

The first 'Seedy Sunday' for 2015 will be on 1 February from 10.30am - 12.00nn.

We'll be sharing seeds, plant material and surplus produce + processing any seeds into our seed bank.

REMEMBER: If bringing something fresh like herbs or cuttings, please wrap the stems in some wet newspaper or paper towel. Alternatively, pop seedlings into a toilet roll 'pot' for easy transplanting.

If you’re new, come along and meet our friendly group – we enjoy listening to what others are doing or plan to do. It’s a great way for everyone to learn, grow their garden for free, meet your neighbours or network and connect with like-minded members in the community – we’ve formed some wonderful friendships this way.

This Month in the Garden

There's still a lot of moisture in the soil from recent rain, especially if you have mulched well. With all the rapid growth, it's an ideal time to chop and drop this organic matter to build your soil. Add to worm farms, compost systems and as mulch.

Nutrients leach quickly in this weather, so check your fertilising routine. All plants benefit from regular applications of seaweed. Consider netting or shade structures to protect delicate seedlings and most plants from sunburn on hot days.

If you're struggling to grow in garden beds in this unpredictable weather, try raising seeds or seedlings in containers. You have much greater control and there are many benefits.

Coping with Pest Insects

If plants are lacking nutrients, they will often be attacked by pest insects.

One strategy you can use for coping with grasshoppers!

Grasshoppers and white cabbage butterflies are amongst the opportunistic pest insects in residence in most gardens right now. These are some organic strategies that may be helpful solutions to try:

Coping with Caterpillars - Part 1
Coping with Caterpillars - Part 2

Current Moon Cycle

If you want to maximise your harvests, consider planting by the moon cycles. According to the moon cycle, we are currently in a prolific period of above ground growth until 3 February. So if you're planning on sowing seeds, seedlings, transplanting, taking cuttings, fertilising or dividing plants - now's the time to do it! Try sowing crops like tomatoes, climbing beans, basil, eggplant, chillis, capsicum, cucumber and other summer vegies.

I'll have some Moon Calendars available for $12.50. They also make a wonderful garden gift. Or you can pick one up online any time.

As usual, at our meeting we'll be discussing what to grow in your garden right now - the challenges and successes plus sharing seeds from our seed bank.

Beginners, people new to the area and long distance visitors are all welcome.

What to Plant in February

Although our soils and microclimates differ in our subtropical gardens, it's a good time of year to grow basil, climbing and dwarf beans, beetroot, capsicum, chives, chillis, leeks, cucumber, cut-and-come again lettuce varieties (in a moist, shaded position), mustard greens, pumpkin, radish, melons, silverbeet, zucchini, tomato and corn.

Spring Onions grow well right through the year - a must have crop in your garden. The seeds are very easy to save.

Check out these guides for other ideas/tips:

Gardenate - Subtropical zone.

ABC Vegie Gardening Guide.

Aussie Organic Gardening.

This month's Seed Savers Meeting

We meet at Sweethearts Cafe who offer us a large space to get together for free (saving us a hall hire fee so no cost to you) but as a business are in effect hiring out that area to us for a couple of hours.

So as a courtesy please remember to at the very least order a tea/coffee or a yummy breakfast, to support the cafe. They have a delicious local and organic menu. Visit their website for more info @ http://www.sweetheartscafe.com.au/aboutus.html.

Venue: 2 Anzac Street (cnr Rosebed Street), Eudlo.

FREE to attend so bring a friend and carpool! Hope to see you soon.

By Anne Gibson

Growing Food & Seed Saving in a Dry Garden

The next 'Seedy Sunday' will be on 2 November from 10.30am - 12.00pm. Come join our table and enjoy meeting like-minded locals.

On the menu this month:

• processing, labelling and storing dill, coriander, lettuce, spring onion, mustard and rocket seeds.
• identifying drought-tolerant crops for seed saving.
• a variety of crops to plant now and how to prepare for them. 
• strategies for growing food crops in hot, dry weather.

Dill seeds ready for processing

Many leafy greens like tatsoi, baby spinach, mustard, some lettuces, coriander and rocket often bolt to seed, now warmer weather has arrived. Bring along any seeds you would like to process for the seed bank, especially if you have winter crops that have finished.

Just grab a paper bag and collect up any seed heads that are fully developed and turning brown. The seed pods should be full and ripe. 

It's time to sow crops that can take the heat. We'll be discussing some varieties and sharing experiences and growing strategies. 

'Salad Bowl Red' and 'Green' Lettuce Varieties are more heat tolerant

Trees that are in stress may be dropping leaves. Use these to build your soil.

If you have some spare cuttings, seeds, surplus produce, questions or ideas to share please bring these along to our meeting.    

We love new faces so bring a friend or neighbour - perhaps someone who'd like some company or needs a little support in their garden. Our group welcomes beginners, visitors and people new to our community area. We also sow seeds of friendship when we are together.

Activities for November

If you are growing brassicas like kale or cabbage, you may find white cabbage butterflies and the diamondback butterflies laying eggs, with caterpillars taking their toll.

Using sacrificial trap crops (those that attract the butterflies to lay their eggs on) is one organic strategy that may help. I use nasturtiums for white cabbage butterflies but Asian cabbages like Bok Choy (Brassica rapa) are attractive to the diamondback butterflies. The idea is to check the leaves of your trap crop plants for eggs and remove before they pupate, ending the life cycle. Alternatively, plant Land Cress (Barbarea vulgaris). When the diamondback larva hatch, they eat the leaves, but die from the toxic natural plant chemicals (saponins).

Some grasshoppers are appearing. They are best removed by hand early morning when they are more docile. If you only have a small area with these crops growing, you may want to consider netting to exclude these visitors who take more than their fair share!

Grasshopper party on Sweet basil leaves

Time to plant summer crops but make sure your soil has moisture holding capacity or an irrigation system. In this dry weather, establishing seedlings can be a challenge. You may have to be a vigilant 'plant parent' for a few weeks until they are established.

Try putting in zucchini, beans, cucumbers, eggplant, capsicum, corn, pumpkin, basil, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. It's also a good time to prepare for turmeric, yams, yakon, galangal, arrowroot, taro, cassava and ginger that thrive in our humid, wet summer.

If you're growing food in containers, these are some dry season strategies to get the most from your crops in pots.

If you haven't already, make some bamboo tepees for climbers like beans, tomatoes and cucumber. Bamboo is a cheap sustainable material and easily to grow in our climate. Why not put in a clumping variety so you have your own building materials on hand?

Cucumber growing on bamboo tepee frames with repurposed baling twine

Consider what shade structures you are going to use in the coming months to protect your crops in the heat. Position tall potted plants to help shade vulnerable ones or start planting shady microclimates now.

What to Plant in November

Check out these sites for tips and planting guides:

Gardenate - Subtropical zone.

ABC Vegie Gardening Guide.

Aussie Organic Gardening.

This month's Seed Savers Meeting

We meet at Sweethearts Cafe who offer us a large space to get together for free (saving us a hall hire fee so no cost to you) but as a business are in effect hiring out that area to us for a couple of hours.

So as a courtesy please remember to at the very least order a tea/coffee or a yummy meal, to support the cafe. They have a delicious local and organic menu. Visit their website for more info @ http://www.sweetheartscafe.com.au/aboutus.html.

Venue: 2 Anzac Street (cnr Rosebed Street), Eudlo.

FREE to attend so bring a friend and carpool! Hope to see you soon.

By Anne Gibson