Autumn is the time to get busy in your vegie patch. Its time to heave out tired old summer crops of tomatoes/beans/eggplant and get ready for the next cool-season crops. Some of the smaller fruiting varieties of tomato may still be yielding reasonably well so make the most of them now and and get ready to make way for broad beans and peas a little later in autumn. Also pumpkins take a while to fully die down, so wait patiently for this to happen before harvesting.

In the vegetable garden you really do reap what you sow. A little extra work prior to planting can mean the difference between a bumper crop and a winter flop! Take the time and effort to replenish the soil with compost and manures after those hungry summer crops. This forms the organic base for subsequent feedings over the season - so add potash, blood and bone and well rotted animal manures.

Remember to rotate if possible root crops with leaf crops and brassicas and legumes. This lessens the burden on the soil and minimises pest and disease problems that can accumulate with successional plantings of the same thing.

Vegetable seedlings to plant now:

Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli - both heading and sprouting (we're trying the purple sprouting broccoli pictured above)

Cabbage - all types

Kale - try Tuscan Kale - the best vegie for your health!

Cauliflower - all types

Salad greens - all types

Leafy Greens - like spinach and rainbvow chard

Stem veg - such as fennel, kohlrabi, celeriac & actual celery

Herbs - Coriander, chervil, rosemary & thyme are all good cool season herbs

Dedicate some space for perennial winter vegetables in the coming months as they become available. Asparagus crowns, Jerusalem artichokes, rhubarb, seed potatoes all become available as the weather cools.

Vegetable seeds to be sowing:

All the following vegie seeds can be planted straight into the garden without any fuss.

• Beetroot - we like striped 'Chioggia', 'Bull's Blood' and 'Burbees Golden' (make sure you soak seeds overnight first!)
• Carrots - we like the multicoloured 'Mixed Heirlooms' best
• Parsnip - sow all roots directly into the garden!
• Radish
• Lettuce - you may have better germination if you sow lettuce seed into trays first before planting them out!
• Leek
• Broad beans
• Peas - we like podded, snap and snow

Happy vegie growing

The Garden Clinic Team