Autumn in the garden is my favourite time of the year. Warm daytime temps, less wind, and the beginning of noticeable drops in overnight temperatures make for beautiful growing conditions.
Having said that, your soil still needs food and your plants are still susceptible to pests.
So there's never a time that you can sit back and relax, but surely that's part of the attraction.
Consistent work will impart rich rewards.
I always use the month of April to plant my seed potatoes, garlic, coriander, and brassicas.
Beds are prepped in March and lay idle for a few weeks. Buy seed potatoes if you want a really good crop.
You'll definitely be able to grow potatoes in most cases by planting a sprouting potato from your cupboard but returns won't be as good.
Dig long trenches around 15cm deep and drop your potatoes in leaving a minimum of 15cm between each.
Throw some compost in, or an aged manure.
This is an unusual practice - I would not normally put any manures in a planting hole or in direct contact with the root system of any plant, but potatoes are the exception as a boost at the source given it's a root veg, works well.
I also find potatoes suffer from attacks of various insects on their leaves.
The key to controlling this is application of sprays - eco oil for example - before any infestations take over.
Try to spray as a preventer, rather than a cure.
Source your garlic from a local, reputable supply. There's a huge variability and buying local ensures you should be planting varieties that do well in our climate and soil types.
Apply a good layer of manure and compost onto your soil, mulch, water in, and plant.
One more application of fertiliser through the growing season is enough.
Keep weed (and competition) free. While many plant at the end of April favouring Anzac Day, others have already put their garlic in the ground.
I recommend whatever suits you, keeping in mind that garlic doesn't like wet feet so mound up if you're on clay or planting into the wet season.
Coriander is a staple herb through the winter months. As the seeds are relatively large, it is an easy seed saver to start out your seed saving journey.
Sow into well-draining soil in full sun to part shade. You don't even need to cover those seeds, although a light raking is beneficial.
Protect young seedlings from slaters and snails with a snail trap or half cut milk bottle bottoms until they are a few weeks old.
You can also plant small seedlings from the shop if you can't get hold of seed.
Just remember to allow your healthiest plant specimen to flower and reach seed collection stage so you'll have your own supply for next year.
In go all the brassicas. Kale and Asian greens can be planted quite close together, but your cabbages, caulies, brussel sprouts, and broccoli must have adequate space to produce heads of a decent size. Do not be tempted to plant too close to each other.
Likewise, try to separate more than one seedling in the cell punnet if you have two or more pop up together. You're wasting your time and will end up with inferior sized veg.
You're also more likely to see an influx of pests and diseases as conditions are not optimal for growth, resulting in less air circulation and competition for sunlight, water, space, and food.
This all equates to weaker plants less able to fight off pest and disease attacks.
The other must-have for brassica pest control is Dipel.
It's an organic product that is highly effective in keeping damage produced by white cabbage moth caterpillars to a minimum.
These light green fat caterpillars can decimate a crop almost overnight if left to their own devices.
It's a naturally occurring bacterium that only activates at the specific pH found in the stomachs of the target insect - the caterpillar - so will have no effect on other beneficial insects that we want to keep around.
Dipel is also rain fast once dry so can be applied in most weather conditions.
Find it at your local hardware store.
So there you have it. I'll update you in a few months on the progress of these potatoes, planted in late March so we'd have a photo ready for this article! Happy planting.
Terri Sharpe is Coordinator and Garden Specialist of the Margaret River Primary School Kitchen Garden Program and a Horticultural lecturer at South Regional Tafe, Margaret River.
