Produce Swappers Gardening Tips March 2021
March Harvest. Photo: Kathryn Allen
IN THE GARDEN:
March/ April is an excellent time to direct sow green manure crops. Green manure mixes often use legumes with grains and cereals in combination and can be a fantastic low-input way to improve the fertility and structure of soils. If you have had any soil-borne diseases or pests such as root nematodes in the past couple of seasons then a green manure crop of mustard can also be useful as a natural soil fumigant. Green manure mixes are available online through seed suppliers and often at nurseries. Ensure that whatever mix you use, you slash it and turn it in to the soil before it flowers or starts to produce seed heads. At this stage in the growth cycle plants begin to use up stored nutrients so it’s important to interrupt this and instead cycle those nutrients and biomass back into the soil. Once you have cut down the mulch you can either dig it through the soil or cover it with a straw based mulch to minimise the loss of nitrogen as the material breaks down.
Care for fruit trees: Ensure that fruit trees are well watered throughout autumn until dormancy. Apples, pears and quinces will respond well to an application of dolomite lime around their dripline in autumn to provide calcium and magnesium for the following growing season. Gather and remove fallen fruit to help to control pests such as codling moth. Ensure that the rootzone below all of your fruit trees are kept free of grass as much as possible and lightly top dress with compost and a wood/bark-based mulch *You can use straw based mulches under fruit trees as they do break down and add to the organic matter in the soil, however studies have shown that tree-based mulches support a higher percentage of fungi compared to bacteria which reflects the needs of woody plants such as trees and shrubs, whereas straw mulches support a higher ratio of bacteria to fungi, which is generally the mix that annual plants need in order to thrive.
SOW NOW (direct): Beetroot, broad beans, lettuce, carrots, Asian greens, parsnip, radish, rocket, spinach, turnips, swedes, spring onions.
*It’s the start of garlic planting time with some varieties ready to go in now. Garlic can be planted from now until June but my preference is to get cloves planted some time in April, with my son’s birthday in late April serving as my uh-oh moment if I haven’t yet planted! For some excellent advice on all things garlic here is an article by Kirsten from Milkwood permaculture: How to grow great garlic, a beginners guide
PLANT NOW (As seedlings): Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, celery, silverbeet and rainbow chard, spinach, perpetual spinach, Asian greens including pak choi, tatsoi, mustard greens and mizuna, leeks, onions, spring onions, parsley
Flowers to plant now: Nigella (Love in a mist), calendula (French marigold), cornflowers, snapdragons, pansies and violas, borage, poppies
A note on veggie gardening in Malmsbury’s cold climate – It’s important in a climate like ours to try to get as much of your winter garden in while the weather is still warm, or at least mild, as we generally go through several months where the garden will stagnate and not much growth will occur. You might find that if you have planted ‘winter’ vegetables in late autumn and they are still smallish by the time winter hits that they will stay that way ‘til spring and then suddenly bolt to seed once we get the first ups and downs of spring temperatures. It’s better to get things in early and let them establish BEFORE the winter doldrums. So, if haven’t turned some beds over to cold season veggies yet then get planting as soon as you can!
Enjoy the autumn sunshine, hope to see you at the produce swap on Sunday.
Happy gardening!
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