Planting Guides - month by month - follow these proven tips  

 

JULY

 

Nurture your soil

Turn knee high green manure crops into soil before they go to seed.

Continue to feed Winter veggies with liquid manure as other nitrogenous fertilisers are locked in the soil due to cold temperatures.

Compost and manure plots.

 

Plant care

Sow seeds:

Legumes – broad beans, peas

Leaf – lettuce

Brassicas – cabbage. radish

Root – beetroot, parsnip

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Seedlings:
onions, shallots, garlic

 Jerusalem artichoke tubers

Divide rhubarb and globe artichokes

End of month – sow seeds of tomatoes, chillies, capsicums and aubergine under glass (cold frame.)

 

Maintenance

Watch for caterpillars and spray.

Check for slugs and snails.

Fix any infrastructure that needs attention.

Sharpen tools.

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Green Manure crops

add plant food  - Legumes absorb nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil. They improve structure - Slashed, they build up organic matter. Some open up soils others bind soil particles together. They rest soil, protect soil from compaction and smother weeds. They provide habitat for beneficial predators.

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Spring – Buckwheat (1-3 months), canola, fenugreek (2-3 months), mustard (1-2months), sorghum + (L)cow pea, (L)lupin(2-4 months),pinto's  peanut,vetch

Summer – Japanese millet, sorghum + (L) cow pea, vetch

Autumn – Barley,canola,oats +(L) fava beans, field peas (2-3 months), lupins

Winter – Barley, broad beans(L), canola, mustard,oats (3-4 months), rye-corn + (L) fava beans, field peas, medics, sub-clovers.

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Don't plant oats before a seed crop or rye before direct sowing as it inhibits germination.

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Liquid manures

These are anaerobic and therefore smell, so stirring daily adds air. A floating layer of sawdust also helps absorb smells.

Dilute the mixture to the strength of weak tea. Liquid manures can also be used undiluted as a compost starter.

Chook poo – nitrogen for leaf growth

Comfrey- has twice the nitrogen of horse manure, potash, magnesium, iron and calcium.

Seaweed – trace elements and boron for stem strength.

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Animal manures

add organic matter as well as fertilise.

Chook poo - is high in nitrogen and rich in phosphorous.

Cow and horse  - lower nitrogen, slow release

Sheep and pig – high nitrogen + phosphorous and potassium.

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