Peas growing beautifully - Sown in Spring.

Water, weed and Feed

Its mid-November now and those of you who are gardening down here in the part of the world where I live in the southern hemisphere (New Zealand) are in the midst of peak planting time. By November the ground should have warmed up enough for you to get most of your vegetable plants in to the outdoor garden and you should have a good planting of everything in the ground. Even if it is the first row of something that you are going to keep succession planting – but the combination of day length and increasing ground temperature means that the conditions are just right for peak growing.

That includes those more tender heat loving plants such as green beans of any sort, climbing, dwarf, butter, French etc that will emerge from the soil when the ground temperature is right. If you have the more perennial type bean such as scarlet runners already in place in your garden, they will only emerge when that temperature is reached. You will then know that its time to get beans in. The exception is of course broad beans which prefer cool growing conditions so go in autumn and early spring. You can still pop some peas in but they also prefer cooler temps so we normally get those it the ground earlier in spring and autumn. So your Group1 bed can be all planted up by now.

Everything in Group 3, the heat loving group that includes tomatoes, courgettes or zucchini, cucumbers, chillies, aubergines, pumpkins, squash, sweet corn – anything in those family groups can go in now if you haven’t already got them in. We often try to plant these a bit too early – it might work if you can protect them from frost and cold snaps, but sometimes its best to wait. For those in cooler temperate regions, if you are growing pumpkins to store for winter, then get them in as soon as you can. They will need plenty of heat and compost to get their full lifecycle done in time to produce a crop. You many still need to watch for late frosts and cover to protect.

The root crop bed should also all be planted by now – at least your first or main crops. (Group 4). Garlic planted before or around the shortest day should be growing well and putting effort into growing some good size cloves. Keep liquid feeding it and making sure it has enough water while it is still at the growing stage. From next month you will start to ease off on the water to allow the maturing to occur. Like garlic, onions are very much connected to day length – they will grow as the days get longer and then start to mature and finish off their lifecycle as the days get shorter. Keep watering well to ensure good bulb growth, feed and weed.

Carrots you can succession sow but you should also have your main planting in by now. Any of those root crops that you can store like carrots, parsnips and potatoes, you should have a good planting in by now. You don’t have the problem with too many coming ready at once like you would do if you planted all your brassicas at once for example because roots crops are designed to store. Keep sowing beetroot – if you use them like we do in our household, you can never have too many! Juiced, grated raw into salad, sliced and pickled. My husband loves them and I never seem to be able to have enough of a steady supply.

Potatoes are another crop that you can never have too many of. They store well and are a staple for us over winter. You should already have a good planting of those in the ground but you can keep sowing if you have the room.

Weed and feed.

Every year I advise to weed and mulch in spring as soon as the ground gets warm enough for the weeds to take off growing. If you can get that done then, you will save yourself a lot of time now trying to keep up with the weeding. I am sorry to say that parts of my garden where I didn’t get the mulch on in time have been overrun and now I have to weed all over again. My poor flower garden gets a bit neglected in that regard and I always promise myself that I will do better next year. So make a note for yourself If you are a planner to set aside time in spring to get that done in a timely manner.

So your work for this time of the year is keeping up with the weeding and also keep up with the feeding. I usually have a liquid feed that I make with comfrey and seaweed etc that I water down and water in once a week. Keep water up if you are in a dry area.

Take the time to get out and enjoy the long warm days of early summer and enjoy your growing garden with its promise of beautiful healthy food for you and your family.