June Produce Swappers Gardening Tips

JOBS IN THE GARDEN FOR JUNE

• Shorter days and cold weather mean that everything has slowed down in the veggie patch. Hopefully we all managed to get our winter crops in and are now able to sit back a bit and let them (slowly) do their thing. If you haven’t mulched already it’s a great time to get a blanket of straw over your veggie beds to insulate the soil and allow worms and microorganisms to continue to work the top layers.
  
  Deciduous fruit trees and shrubs, berries, asparagus and rhubarb crowns and strawberry runners can go in now. All of these will benefit from the addition of organic matter in the form of aged manure or fully matured compost dug into the planting hole along with some gypsum to improve the drainage of our heavier soils around this area.
  
  Now is also a perfect time to reflect, and to plan. Take some time to wander through garden spaces or assess how systems like composts/worm farms/chook pens and runs are working and whether they need rejigging before spring rolls around again. Winter fruit tree pruning should start in earnest in July, so take the time now to clean and sharpen secateurs and pruning tools ready to get stuck into it. If you are feeling really inspired on a rainy day you could sand and oil the wooden handles of digging implements and sharpen your spades, both are great wet weather activities (as long as you are somewhere warm and dry).
  
  It's sometimes said that veggie gardeners in South Eastern Australia should avoid planting in the J months –January, June and July, but if you just can’t help yourself, can brave the weather and don’t mind waiting a while for plants to settle in and start to take off then there are still some winter stalwarts that can go in now:
  
  Plant now: Spinach, mibuna/mizuna, red mustard, onions, lettuce (if you have a protected spot), parsley, borage and calendula. Plant rhubarb crowns, asparagus, globe artichoke suckers, strawberry runners
  
  Sow Now: Broad beans, salad and spring onions. Winter green manure crops.
  
  *If you have a polytunnel, greenhouse or warm sunny spot indoors then Peter Cundall recommends sowing cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower now to transplant in early spring for another crop of brassicas.
  

Happy gardening!


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