Home Grown
Now is a great time to get your Onions, Leeks and Asian Greens going in the vegie garden.
Asian Greens include Bok Choy, Pak Choy, Tat Soi, Mustard Leaves, Mizuna, Mibuna, Mitsuba and more. They like to be watered and fed very well and they’ll reward you by being one of the fastest growing crops in your garden.
· Asian Greens are susceptible to ‘bolting’, caterpillars, slugs and snails.
· Stop them bolting to flower by never letting them dry out.
· Hopefully, in the cooler weather, there’s not many caterpillars left around but if there is, bacteria based sprays work very well.
· Slugs and snails can be dealt with by spreading iron-based pellets, using ‘beer traps’ or hunting them on damp nights and dropping them in a bucket of soapy water.
Leeks are considered a bit of a delicacy and yes you can grow them well here on the coast.
· They have a long growing season and prefer the cool weather so plant them now.
· Give Leeks a reasonably fertile, well-drained soil in minimum 5hrs of sun.
· ‘Blanch’ the stems with soil, mulch or even better newspaper or rinsed out 1lt milk cartons.
· Remember to liquid feed them fortnightly with a fish/kelp or compost tea for big king-kong sized leeks your friends will be amazed at!
Onions can take up to 6 months to harvest and are a bit trickier to grow than leeks and super easy spring onions.
· Give Onions moderately rich soil, full sun and perfect drainage.
· Usually it’s good to lime or add dolomite before planting to raise pH to 6.5.
· Plant them in a spot that you’ve previously manured for a leafy crop and add some potash to the soil.
· Don’t have too much compost, manure or mulch near the bulb as it may cause a bulb rot.
· Water only moderately as too much water may give you all tops and no bottoms!
Also good to plant now are Beans, Beetroot, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Cauli, Cabbage, Carrots, Capsicum, Celery, Garlic, Lettuce, Peas, Potatoes and Tomatoes.
Marika Whitfield Dip.Hort.
Marika runs regular vegie garden classes on the Gold Coast.
For inquiries call 5539 1110 or email info@thevegiegarden.com.au
