Without question, the best health insurance of all is the vegetables and fruit we grow ourselves.
And the most nutritious of all food crops are those grown without using poisonous sprays or life-disrupting chemical fertilisers.
Healthy, balanced soil means healthy, nutrient-rich plants and in turn, healthy people.
In almost all parts of Australia, the relatively mild climate allows vegetables to be grown year round even during winter in the coolest districts.
Right now temperatures are high and the soil is warm.
It means we can start sowing and planting a wide range of leafy and root vegetables for fantastic eating from late autumn, right through winter and well into spring.
Seeds of root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, beetroot and even butter swedes are best sown directly where they can grow and mature undisturbed.
Never waste money buying those tempting but totally useless punnets of root vegetable seedlings.
Although these seedlings may grow, almost all bolt wastefully to seed because they resent being lifted and transplanted.
Choose a bed that was manured or fertilised for previous crops of other vegetables — such as potatoes, lettuces or silverbeet — and don’t add more fertiliser.
Over-rich soil or too much organic matter causes carrots and parsnips to fork badly.
These plants need to be able to send roots straight down, deep into mineral-rich subsoil for a smooth shape and extra nutrients.
Good carrot varieties are Manchester Table or, for shallow, clay soils, the broad, stump-rooted Chantenay Red Cored.
Deeply water a prepared, cultivated bed before sowing the seeds. The next day, press a rake handle flat into the surface of the moist soil to make long grooves about 30cm apart and sow seeds directly into them.
I mix the seed with dry, sifted horticultural sand and dribble it along the grooves for better spacing. Don’t bother backfilling, just water in gently to avoid disturbing the seeds. Germination takes about 10 days — earlier in warm conditions.
Good parsnip varieties include Yatesnip and Hollow Crown.
Beetroot varieties include Bull’s Blood (outstanding flavour), Derwent Globe and Detroit Dark Red.
The seeds can be soaked overnight for quicker germination. Space seeds 5cm apart in shallow drills and backfill.
Beetroot plants need boron, especially in alkaline, sandy soils.
A teaspoon of Borax dissolved in 5 litres of water should be watered directly over newly sown beetroot seeds, or used as a foliar feed after leaves have formed.
Butter swede seeds germinate in three days and always come up too thickly. Thin immediately so plants are spaced 20cm apart. Keep well-watered for rapid growth.
Leaf vegetables grow best in well-manured, highly fertile, nitrogen-rich soil so work in plenty of bulky animal manure supplemented with a generous sprinkling of pelletised poultry manure. Water deeply and leave for a few days for the fertilisers to break down a little.
Silverbeet plants started last spring will be exhausted by autumn and attract rust disease. Sow seeds or plant small seedlings spaced about 30cm apart for disease-free silverbeet during winter and spring.
The most nutritious cabbages for winter-spring eating are the dark-green, blistered-leaf Savoys or conical Sugarloaf varieties. Choose small seedlings at garden centres rather than big, floppy ones, which tend to collapse. Plant into moist, fertile soil during the cool of the day, preferably during the evening, to allow seedlings to settle in during the night.
Cauliflower varieties worth planting now include Paleleaf, Phenomenal Early and Snowball. Mini caulies planted now should mature by late autumn.
Broccoli seedlings mature rapidly and main winter-spring crops are best planted as seedlings in March and April.
During extra-warm periods it may be necessary to provide some shade for the first few days to prevent young brassica seedlings from collapsing.
Even small leafy branches or stems of bracken fern pushed into the soil next to each seedling can provide useful shade.
All leafy vegetables must be kept well-watered with strong growth encouraged by applying heavily diluted fish emulsion every three weeks.
The rewards from these efforts are extra-tasty vegetables for non-stop, healthy eating from May to September. Right when our bodies need that special nourishment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out our Tasmanian Planting Calendar Fridge Magnet – A5 size
A year-round guide for when to plant your veggies in Tasmania.
Never lose your planting guide again with a convenient fridge magnet for secure attachment to any metal surface.
This growing guide has been tried and tested by some of the best Gardener’s in Tasmania, and is specifically adapted to the Tasmanian climate.
Excellent Gift for any Tasmanian you know with green thumbs and who likes Peter Cundall as much as i do!
Make sure you follow the calendar and you will have a successful year of growing vegetables in Tasmania.
Price includes FREE SHIPPING Australia wide!
To purchase visit:-https://littleoakchurch.com.au/tasmania-vegetable-planting-calendar-magnet-c-1/tasmania-planting-calendar-magnet-vegetable-gardening-p-1