Spring subtropical vegetable garden is unique compared to more temperate climates. There is so much beauty in this transition of seasons, as well as opportunity to use plants in finishing state whilst bringing in new warmer season crops.
I will explain the experience through my own biodynamic vegetable gardens where we hold many of our workshops. I experiment with many things in how I manage the food growing spaces as I feel this is the best way to develop localised wisdom.
Plants going to seed
Many plants are flowering in our spring subtropical vegetable garden. These include coriander, Asian greens, peas, dill, nasturtiums and rocket. Each seeding process has a designed purpose as follows:
- Coriander – We tied up the plants on a stake so they get more flowers and seeds and this allows the bees to be more involved. We let the seeds dry out on the plant and then crush them as a powder. Its an amazingly potent herb done this fresh. Some seeds fall to the ground and these will come up next year when it gets cooler
- Asian greens – These are from the brassica family and have beautiful yellow flowers. They create a fantastic bee habit. I often watch the native and European bees harmoniously weaving around each other on these flowers. I tend to use these plants as decoys to attract grasshoppers when it gets warmer (this decoy tactic keeps the grasshoppers away from the newer plants).
- Peas – I normally save the pea seed and use them next season. We have cropped from peas up to mid October, quite a long season with multiple plantings starting in May
- Dill – These don’t need to be tied up as they have a very strong stalk. I let them go to flower and seed and dry the seeds for seasoning. Because they are narrow plants growing high, I have begun planting cucumbers on a climbing frame in between the finishing off dill.
- Nasturtiums – All our nasturtiums are self seeded from last year and we have been harvesting leaves and flowers from them for 4 months now. Leaves are reducing and flowers increasing. I notice that flowers are getting more orange in colour which means they will be more spicy in flavour. We have also begun to eat the seeds which have an amazing spicy flavour.
- Rocket – Another great bee attractor when going to seed. Its white flowers are buzzing and we always find that rocket comes up again when the climate gets a bit cooler. We then move those plants into the right bed for our rotation pattern. As these plants are finishing off, the grass hoppers can also complete the process.
Existing crops thriving in our spring subtropical vegetable garden
So long as the moisture is kept up in this dry time and our soil life processes are applied consistently, the existing crops that will thrive over the coming three months of spring experience are:
- Spring onions, garlic and leeks – We have many of these in the garden in various states as we seek a continuous supply. I have found spring onions will work if planted every month. When its hotter they need to be shaded. For the leeks, they are not happy to be planted in the heat, but will survive quite well if finishing off in the warm times. We have harvested leeks now for the last 3 months and this will continue until December. Garlic to harvest in late September.
- Silver beet, chard and kale – With sufficient water these amazingly robust crops keep giving for very long periods of time and I expect they will be ready to finish in November after giving 6 months of cropping. Nature is wonderful.
- Other leafies – I have many cos lettuce planted and these will grow well with high water levels. As it gets hotter they may need shade. The tactic I normally use is to locate them underneath larger fruiting vegetable plants that thrive in the heat. Asian green planted about a month ago are thriving and will go for another 2 months.
- Strawberries – Loving the the warmth, these should keep fruiting until November. They started fruiting in early July.
- Herbs – Mint, thyme, dill, coriander, basil and fennel
New crops being planted
The newer crops we are planting in our spring subtropical vegetable garden are:
- Cucumbers – All on climbing frames, with frames used to shade leafies.
- Zucchini – I have been growing these since July in our warm winter and over the next 3 months the new lot I have planted should be great, plenty of warmth and low humidity. If humidity picks up, I use biodynamic horn silica and equisetum tea to reduce impact of humidity.
- Beans – These include snake beans, madagascar beans and windsor long pod climbing beans. The first 2 keep growing over a very long period whereas the windsor long pod is very temperature sensitive and will die off as soon as its too hot or too cold.
- Egg plants and capsicums – These will thrive in the heat and love this time of the year. I also use them to create shade for leafies
- Pumpkins – Will grow like crazy with a good start of compost and some moisture. These are grown away from the veg garden
- Turmeric and ginger – Slow growing crop that should be planted in Sep – Oct with harvest 10 months later
- Leafy crops – Includes lettuce, rocket, chard, basil, silver beet, bok choy pechay, wombok, kale and coriander. Best to create some shade for these as we get to later September. This shade could be from micro-climates created with climbers and also selected use of shade cloth over a Leafy crops bed.
Soil fertility and garden management for spring
As the temperature warms, more growth usually comes. However the crops of the cooler season are more likely to go to seed early if they do not have sufficient soil fertility to support their growth. This issue is amplified with the normal lack of rainfall in spring sub tropical climate. Garden beds can become compacted, repel moisture and become anaerobic for many gardeners at this time of the year.
I focus on keeping my yearly rhythm of activities to activate soil life. The soil life loosens soil, improves nutrient availability and greatly improves water holding capacity of the soil. I bring these rhythms into our yearly coaching and workshops.
Come along to one of our Workshops . On September 28 we have a Garden tour of our patch and Oct 18, a Seed Saving workshop, then Nov 9-10, our 2 day Biodynamic gardening workshop.
Our Coaching service gives you one-on-one organic and biodynamic gardening coaching. Good time start.
Authored by Peter Kearney – www.myfoodgarden.com.au
