



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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