Garden Diary of Grant Douglas - 2nd week of August

Probably should set out exactly what it will be before we get into it:  Each week I will give you a brief rundown of the sorts of things that you can be doing in your vegetable garden at that time.  Of course, even within this district, climate conditions vary quite widely so if I recommend that you can sow or plant something (especially tender things such as tomatoes, peppers, etc) please take note that if you're in a colder area, eg Ngatimoti, you may want to delay for a week or two.  Sorry, but I will not have time to answer questions that may arise but I do hope that in the future we can develop an interactive site where questions can be asked, and answered by others.

The biggest limiting factor at this time of year to what you can do is cold, wet soil and usually the wetter the soil, the colder it will be.  You can reduce the soil moisture by covering small areas with black plastic when it rains (but remove it on fine days), or by using cloches.  Cold wet soil can be made worse by the use of winter mulches, so if you have done this, you may want to pull it back and let the sun and wind at the soil. 

If you haven't done so already, now is the time to get your early potatoes sprouting, ready for planting.  For really early crops try Swift (60 days to digging) or for slightly later ones Jersey Benny, Marist Anchor, Lisseta (70 to 90 days).  Sprout potatoes in full light but not direct sun.  The sprouting should take about 2 to 3 weeks.  Share a bag with someone else if you've only got a small garden as it is better to put in a succession of planting than one big planting.

Now is the time to be getting together as much organic matter to put into your soil for later crops.  Fresh manures can be used if the area is not to be used for approximately 6 weeks, but better to have it composted if you have time.

If you have got some ground prepared at the moment you can plant or sow:

Broad Beans

Peas (this year I am growing Easy Peasy - low growing, heavy cropping)

Sugar Snap Peas

Silverbeet

Perpetual Spinach

Brassicas - Cauli, Cabbage, Broccoli

Lettuce

Chinese Greens

Spring Onion

Raddish

Red Onions

Note:  Remember birds are very hungry this time of year so you may want to think about how you are going to protect young plants.

If you are in an area where you can plant out early tomatoes and peppers, eg Second week in October, then you should be thinking about sewing them now.

In warm areas early tomatoes could be planted in greenhouse, with extra protection.

Happy gardening, Grant (Hope this nice weather we've had the last few days lasts)