Grant Douglas's Garden Diary

Week 11: third week of March

Heard that there had been a frost out the valley which blackened Kumera Plants, whereas at our place we've only had a low of about 4 degrees - this shows what a huge variation we have in climate in the area and so any recommendations for planting you must take into consideration your exact location.

All your winter Brassicas should be in by now but you can keep planting for the spring. One of the advantages of the Sprouting Broccoli Hybrid Marathon is that it performs wll at all times of the year. The winter Cauliflower Snowmarch is suitable for the Spring (a large cauliflower) and the Cabbage Wintercross will suit spring production or you can use Flower of Spring. Interesting that the Wintercross Cabbage, if maturing in the Winter, will be round, but if maturing in the Spring, will become more pointed, similar to the Flower of Spring variety. You can also continue planting Green Cauli, Purple Brocolli, Brocoflower but these will not do as well as the other varieties.

Now is the time to be making large plantings of Lettuce if you are growing them out of doors. Because they grow slowly over the Winter, you need a large number to have a sufficient supply for picking. Although lettuce will stand moderate frosts, a well ventilated cloche covered with frost cloth at night will keep them tender during the winter months. If you want a hearting lettuce for the winter, Triumph is a good variety, although not as crisp as Summer Hearting Lettuce. More about indoor Lettuce at a later date.

I lost a couple of young Brassica plants this week to Cut-worm. Cut-worm nip off young plants (a wide variety from carrots to corn) at soil level during the night. If you check your plants first thing in the morning and find this has happened, if you dig down around the damaged plant you will usually find the Cut worm and then deal with it digitally (that is thumb and forefinger). If you can't find it, a light dusting of Derris Dust over the plants to ground level will also work.

Sowing or Planting this week:
Brassicas - Cauli, Cabbage, Broccoli, Broccoflower, Brocoflower (remember to choose Spring varieties of these brassicas eg Wintercross or Flower of Spring Cabbage, Snowmarch Cauliflower
Lettuce
Parsley
Perpetual Spinach
Silverbeet
Spinach (winter varieties eg. Hybrid No.7)
Spring Onions

Sow Direct:
Carrots (If you can get hold of seed of a carrot variety called Spring Market Improved, they can be sown now and into the Autumn for spring production - they are not a particularly good colour, but are very slow bolting)
Chinese Cabbage and other Chinese Greens
Mescalin Mix
Radish
Rocket

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