Although we often think that with the onset of Autumn and heading into colder weather that we might not be advised to replanting our vege garden. Nothing further from the truth and throughout New Zealand we need to consider preparation for the winter vegetable garden.

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What to grow?

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There is a huge variety of options and your local nursery will start producing punnets of seedlings that will flourish throughout the cooler months. If you don’t want to buy seedlings than now is the time to plant yours seeds in trays to give them a head start when being transferred to beds. Cabbage, broccoli, broccolini and cauliflower do well at this time of the year but also don’t forget root crops like beetroot and carrots that can be sown directly into the soil.

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Other great options for the cooler month’s harvest include broad beans, kale and spinach. If you only want to grow mulch to dig in early spring then broad beans are a great crop as they are fast growing, leafy and rot down nicely when turned into the soil.

As the winter progresses begin to think of your Spring crops and plant seeds of lettuce and spring onions. Garlic of course is one of the easiest and tastiest to grow – plant on shortest day and harvest on the longest is the usual adage.

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This time of year is also time for container gardening. If you don’t have a vege patch then spinach, bok choy, and lettuce do very well in pots and it is easy to keep them away from the worst frosts. Grow potatoes in large buckets or planter bags, then when harvest time comes tip the whole lot onto a tarp and hunt through for all those lovely new potatoes. No digging and no waste.

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Throughout the cooler months do watch your watering and feeding. Good quality liquid fertiliser is a must as brassicas are hungry feeders. Also don’t overwater – the soil is usually quite moist at this time of year. For little cost get hold of a good quality moister meter or multi-meter that measures pH and moisture. No point having science on our side if we don’t use it.

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Don’t forget crop rotation as different plants extract different minerals from the soil. For example if you had cabbage and cauli one year then replace them with root crops the following year.

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Your most important aid to a productive garden is your soil. This will be the subject of a future Information Sheet as it is a complex subject but fall back on YouTube and see what some of the gardening sites recommend. There are many sites giving very sound advice and as long as you take into account the climate where you are then these sites will be a useful knowledge bank.

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Happy gardening and of course, your own veges with the roast meals – nothing like it!