Vege garden question

[lurker172602]

DISCLAIMER: We are NOT keen Gardeners 

OH has just spent a considerable number of days digging over, and weeding, his "vege patch".   It's north facing and gets sun most of the day and seems to be good soil.  He does plan to dig through some manure and use pea straw on the surface.

Quesion is, what should he/we plant now?  He has lots of ideas for what I think are winter crop veges, e.g., carrots, potatoes etc, but what can we productively and easily grow at this time of the year?

We are on the far south coast of NSW.

[cmcoins2000]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

Snow peas and tomatoes.

But at this time almost anything is good provided it's watered regularly.

Rather then digging manure through it now, probably better to water in a mild liquid fertiliser as the plants grow.

As stawks said it can burn young roots.

Then turn some manure though it after summer before the next planting.

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Have made the mistake of using manure both horse & cow from the paddocks.

Weeds bloomed - it was a nightmare.

Perhaps the 'stuff' from a nursery does not pose this problem.

[imastawka]

If you know what you want to eat, it should be easy.

Tomatoes need staking.  Cucumbers need a trellis or something to grow up

Snow peas are also a climber and are the easiest thing to grow from seed.

Zucchini plants produce heaps - pick them small

Capsicums are a smallish plant and don't require anything.

Something easy?   Buy very small spring onions (scallions to you?) from supermarket,

then plant the roots about 2 inches down.   Always have fresh on hand then

Whatever you plant, just remember to keep up the water

[harley_babes_hoard]

I tried my hand at veges once and it was very successful however I didn't get to eat much as the slugs, bugs grasshoppers, birds, possums all had a good feed before me.

[collect247]

If you encounter these critters then you need to place barriers for example netting or electric fence haha

[bushies.girl]

Luker there is a great site called "Gardenate", it is worth a look as it will give you heaps of info re veggie growing eg which veggie to plant each month for your area,  which veggies are compatible with each other etc, I would post a link but havent a clue how to do it.

If you are going to use animal manure, it needs to old as green manure will burn your plants. You would also need to add it through your soil and leave the soil to "mature" for a few weeks otherwise it can burn you seedlings.  If you are wishing to plant straight away, then my suggestion would be not to add it to you soil, use Seasol and Powerfeed instead, they will contain all the nutrients your veggies will need for healthy growth.    Most root veggies dont like to moved so growing from seed  rather than seedlings is preferable. If you want to grow carrots/beetroot etc., dont add any manure/fertiliser to soil, they dont like it and it will cause your carrots to become twisted, malformed etc.

I would also suggest using mulch on your veggie plots, it helps add nutrients and aids in water retention, I personally use straw but the are other mulches around to choose from these days.

I live in SW  Vic and grow most of our own veggies, I have found that good soil preparation, mulch etc, goes a long way in helping to produce healthy crops.

[imastawka]

Keep all your eggshells, then once a week, squash them up

and put around your seedlings.

That does 3 things - snails/slugs won't crawl over them, adds calcium into the soil,

and also deters the little white cabbage moth( the white colour tricks them into

thinking there are already too many moths in your garden and they go elsewhere)

I never had a problem with birds, grasshoppers or possums.

[the*scarlet*pimpernel]

I grew brussel sprouts this year. Easy to grow, never done it before so I was quite intrigued by how they fruit, but the little tiny insects (aphids?) moved in on them.

I've got broccoli and cauli in now, or was it cabbage.... whatever, the insects will no doubt be the main beneficiary.

I don't know if using whats iin the green grocers as a guide is the way to go. Some of that stuff would have been planted 2 months ago

[bushies.girl]

Land cress is also great for deterring Cabbage moths

[imastawka]

Yeah, but I always have eggs

[bushies.girl]

lol so do I ..... I also tend to grow my cabbages through the winter months when the cabbage moths arent around.