Summer is over and we are now planting out all our winter crops – potatoes, onions and garlic plus all the brassicas.
We grow such a wide variety of fruit and vegetables that I spend a lot of time on the computer researching and improving my growing skills.
I particularly like spending time on YouTube where I can see and hear what people are doing.
The key to getting a constant successful outcome from potatoes is to start with good seed potatoes.
They require about 100 days from planting to time of harvesting.
We know they are ready when they either start to flower or when they start to die off.
The 100 days is a great guide.
So track when you plant them and wait patiently.
Potatoes need to be mounded up as their leaves and stems grow taller.
We just keep adding compost until we get the ideal height.
Start with good high quality garlic bunches.
Just break them up into cloves leaving the skin on but removing any of the dead flaky peel.
You plant the fatter end to the bottom (make a bit of a hole) and the skinny end to the top. You plant just below the surface.
We start our red onions from seedlings in punnets. We plant both garlic and onions about 15 centimetres apart.
They don’t need as much water as other vegetables but we water quite well until established and reduce the watering as they mature.
They will be ready to harvest after four or five months but you can and will get some variance.
You can harvest one plant at a time and quickly get the feel for when they are ready.
The brassica family includes cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, silver beet and bok choy.
We start all these with punnets of seedlings.
With all the winter crops we plant them out for several months giving a regular bounty.
What we can’t eat or is not taken by our regular customers, we freeze to ensure healthy home grown produce year round for soups, stir-fries and casseroles.
