Selwyn Times: March 18, 2020

SELWYN TIMES Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Wednesday March 18 2020 23
Gardening
Plant now for autumn vegetables
• By Henri Ham
AFTER THE dry, hot summer
most of us have had, it feels
a little strange writing about
autumn and winter vege just yet.
But as many a gardener knows,
preparation is the key to the
success of any vege patch. So, if
you want to enjoy plenty of vege
from your garden in the cooler
months, you really need to get
started now.
First start by clearing out
any old plants that have passed
their time. I’ll be pulling out old
tomato stalks, dried up courgette
plants and many herbs that have
gone to seed.
Give your soil a good turning
over and remove any clumpy
roots and debris. Try to break
down the larger lumps in the soil
that your plants may struggle to
grow roots through. Top up with
compost, sheep pallets, top soil
and a give a good feed of general
fertiliser.
For plants, I’m going to focus
on my greens as they will go well
in autumn and right now I feel
like greens will help balance out
my ‘indulgent’ summer. These
include cauliflower, silverbeet,
cabbage and broccoli.
If you want a variation on plain
broccoli, try broccoflower. It has
a milder and slightly sweeter
taste to cauliflower – and looks
like a lime green cauliflower. Or
Italian (Romanesco) broccoli,
with its light green clusters of
heads that resemble sea coral.
The unusual tip of each spear
is conical rather than round,
looking like the ‘royal’ version.
It tastes more like true broccoli,
but at its very best!
Also try the newest (and
trendiest) member of the broccoli
family, broccolini (tasty
stems); a hybrid between broccoli
and Chinese broccoli. It’s
slightly sweeter than normal
broccoli. You can compare its
GROWTH:
Brassicas
should be
planted
35-50cm
apart.
taste to asparagus, and it’s ideal
for stir-fries.
And now to plant your broccoli.
Firstly, they like a freedraining
and sunny spot, and to
be planted in a new place each
year. This crop rotation will
ensure premium growth and
quality. When you’ve found your
perfect place to plant, dig holes
roughly twice the size of the
seedling, around 35-50cm apart.
Place inside and firmly press the
soil down with your hands.
These brassicas will all take
a while to mature, so consider
popping in faster growing plants
between each seedling – this is
called companion planting. Pak
choy, beetroot, radish, spring
onions and spinach are all fast
growing veges you can poke in
between your larger brassicas,
and harvest before the brassicas
are ready.
Lastly, apply mulch. This will
help keep the weeds down and
retain moisture. Pea straw and
bark mulch are popular choices,
but pine needles, wet newspaper
strips and even wool packing
from your ‘My Food Bag’ will do
the trick.
When it comes to harvesting
your broccoli heads, cut them off
diagonally. This will encourage
new mini-heads to grow, giving
you a long cropping season. And,
if you suddenly find all your
broccoli is ready at once and you
don’t quite have the stomach
for it, remember it freezes really
well.
Simply place in a snap lock
bag, and it will keep nicely for a
few months.