WITH the cooler weather fast approaching, now is the perfect time to start planning your winter garden.
Winter vegetables thrive in the cooler weather. If you are planting, top choices for winter include broccoli, cabbage, carrots, spinach, beetroot and cauliflower.
These vegetables are ideal for soups and stews and roasting, and are ideal in providing fresh produce through the winter months.
Gardeners have to be mindful of the bugs that can destroy your cabbages and cauliflower. These grubs can decimate your crop in just one night. Protect them with some form of covering with a very fine mesh, still allowing sunlight to penetrate.
Make sure to dust when required and inspect you plants daily for those little “masters of disguise” pale green grubs.
They will not be your friend.
Silverbeet in its various colour forms is great for the kids to grow, while the good old beetroot is just about indestructible.
Purchasing beetroot in punnets is a quick and easy way to grow them, however buying seed is cheaper, but just takes a little longer to grow.
The advantage with seed is that you can control how many you want to grow, while with punnets sometimes you waste some because you may have surplus to your needs.
Other winter veges that can give you a good harvest and grow easily are peas, snow peas, and broad beans, while there are the more spicier variety of onions, leeks, spring onions, garlic and celery.
Bok choy and rocket can add flavour to your meals and are very easy to grow.
There are just so many winter vegetables that one can grow, most are easy to grow while others need a little more understanding.
It’s fun to have your own produce to eat right out of your own garden – it’s both rewarding and has a calming effect among the many things that life throws at us.
Gardening is a way of learning new things, and it’s better than spending money at the gym to get fit.
Till next time.
