April Produce Swappers Gardening Tips

IN THE GARDEN:
The days are getting shorter and the leaves are turning. We have really hit Autumn now, arguably our most beautiful season. The garden bounty has been coming thick and fast as summer vegetables are harvested and fruit ripens on late apple, plum and pear trees as well as medlars, quinces and others. Our house has been a hive of activity with many passata batches bubbling on the stove, the dehydrator whirring on the bench, cider brewing in the laundry (thanks Malmsbury Apple Press Gang) and fruit being stewed for fruit leather and jam. We’ve also been seed saving and, of course, pulling out summer crops to prep and then plant the next season’s vegetables and herbs.

Now is the time to be finalising your wish list for bare rooted fruit trees and even preparing the spots so that they can settle before planting. These days most varieties are available on semi-dwarfing rootstocks which make the mature trees much easier to manage and net. When planning your edible garden remember to plot out spacings that allow room between each tree to give good access all around for picking, pruning, netting and general maintenance.

Many nurseries will know by now what fruit tree varieties they are getting in this year and you may be able to pre-order. Bare-rooted stock usually arrives in nurseries in June. If you are ordering online then Yalca Fruit Trees have a large range of heritage varieties as do Woodbridge Nurseries in Tassie (their 2021 catalogue should be launching soon). Closer to home we have Carr’s Organic Fruit Tree Nursery at the Harcourt Organic Farming Co-op who are just getting ready to launch their 2021 catalogue for bare-rooted, organically grown fruit trees – they have some great old varieties but they sell out fast so keep an eye out.

Jobs in the garden:
· Pull out and hang tomatoes under a verandah or well-ventilated shed to allow them to continue ripening. I’ve also successfully done this with chilli and capsicum plants – although they do dehydrate as they ripen

· Save seeds from favourite summer crops

· Make a hot compost pile utilizing autumn leaves, spent summer veggie plants, manure, ash from the fire, pulled winter weeds and other organic materials

· Fill bare spots among brassicas and other winter veggies with fast growing asian greens, lettuce and radish

· Source copper hydroxide (syn. Cupric hydroxide) ready to spray any peaches and nectarines immediately after leaf fall to protect against leaf curl next season. *This is an organic-approved spray that needs to be applied three times over the dormant period to be completely effective: Leaf fall, mid-winter and, most importantly, at bud swell in late winter/early spring.

SOW NOW (direct): Broad beans, coriander, garlic, parsley, rocket, cool season green manure crops

PLANT NOW (as seedlings): Brassicas (ASAP) such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower and romanesco, Asian greens including pak choi, tat soi, mizuna and mibuna, lettuce, onions, spring onions, leeks, silverbeet, spinach, perpetual spinach, mustard greens, small radishes such as French Breakfast and Cherry Belle (good gap fillers)

Happy gardening!

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Photo Credit: Eve Archbold