Can you believe it’s already THAT time of the year! I can’t believe how quickly time flies. I’m so glad I propagated my plants from seed and don’t have to face the garden centre this weekend as it’s going to be crazy busy! To be honest, Labour Weekend isn’t really that significant for me as a gardener for the following reasons:
· I’m busy outdoors year round, so it doesn’t really feel that different to other weekends · Given the size of the garden and number of different things we grow, there’s no way I’ll be able to get everything done in three days, so tasks run on into November and even December · Even if I wanted to plant the entire summer garden now I couldn’t because I’m still waiting for the last of my winter and early spring veggies to mature to make room for new plants · Even if the space was available, I wouldn’t plant the entire summer garden now as temperatures are still unstable and I don’t want to risk losing all my plants · I also like staggering sowing and planting, so we have a continuous supply of veggies over summer. This means I’m still planting the summer garden in November and December · Some of my seedlings are too small to be planted outdoors and are still in the greenhouse · In my opinion, it’s too early to plant some things outdoors now, such as melons and also too early to start some things, such as okra, which needs very hot weather to do well These are my tasks for Labour weekend: · Continue to harden off plants in the greenhouse, moving them outdoors for a few hours during the day (weather permitting; we haven’t been doing this over the past couple of days because it’s been so cold and windy) · Water the garden as necessary (at the moment we only need to do the punnets and pots) · Pot up any plants that are ready to come off the heat pad and sow more melons · Remove bulb baskets with spring bulbs which have finished flowering from the ground · Plant marigold seedlings into some terracotta troughs · Plant bedding dahlias around our lily garden infront of the house · Plant rhubarb seedlings grown from seed one year ago into the garden · Prepare ground space that is presently unoccupied (not much at the moment!) with compost and fertiliser so it’s ready for planting tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers · Plant the biggest tomatoes (Sweet 100) into the area that was previously occupied by kale and miners lettuce. Stake and secure plants with string. Remove any laterals · Spray roses and fruit trees with Yates Copper Oxychloride (weather permitting; only if it’s sunny and there’s no wind!) These are my tasks for the rest of October: · Sow more cucumbers, zucchini and squash on the heat pad · Lift Jersey Benne potatoes · Start planting the larger capsicums and chillies into containers · Plant corn · Plant zucchini and cucumbers What’s on your to-do list for the garden this weekend? NB The picture is of the radishes which I grew successfully in a 35 litre container
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