So, how is the weather we are having Perth?
Mid-winter and it’s still t-shirt weather, incredible! With these beautiful sunny days in between the rain it really is perfect weather for growing vegetables in your own back yard.
A lot of people seem to have the idea that growing vegetables in winter won’t happen, or there is nothing to grow. Well I’m here to say it’s not true! It’s actually a lot easier to get abundant, overflowing, magnificent looking and highly productive garden beds going in winter. You can sow seeds directly into the vegetable garden and almost guarantee success, letting the rain provided by Gaia, Mother Nature, nurturing them to maturity.
A few small steps will set you up for success:
- Plan ahead- You have to plant before it gets too cold, things will grow very slowly over winter and seedlings need to be quite well established before the cold sets in.
- Plant all year round varieties of organic annual seeds and seedlings. Check the variety carefully as only some are all year round – Beetroot, Spinach, Silverbeet, Lettuce, Carrots.
- Don’t forget your winter favourites. Some winter vegetables are- Kale, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broad Beans, Broccoli (even broccolini & other delicious gourmet types)
- And of course the edible flowers, got to get your daily dose of flower power!! -Viola’s/Heartsease, Nasturtiums, Borage.
- Apply crap loads of manure and/or compost on and build up your soil over winter, the rain will help watering it in. This will help the health of your soil and come summer will make all the difference in surviving through those stinking hot Perth summers we all love and sometimes hate!
Raised Vegetable Beds for the win!
My own backyard vegetable patch is completely booming in delight at the moment, and, as usual everyone who comes over takes a little of my home grown fresh produce away with them. I only have a small 2m x 2m raised garden bed out the back and its providing plenty of food for my smallish family and all my friends. I have so much lettuce, spinach & kale my 5 chickens have been getting so many piles of freshly picked A grade quality food. Needless to say everyone is well fed around here!
Put your hand up if you want to save money?
It really is such a joy to be able to grow my own food so easily and it really doesn’t cost much at all. I’m saving money and having plenty of produce available to me at my fingertips, it’s heaps closer than the local shops, and I must say what I am growing here, at home, is much better quality than anything I have ever seen in a shop.
Plant smart, Plant seasonally.
Planting seasonally can be the best guide for the selection of vegetables you grow and by using the weather to your gardening advantage you can also ease the workload.
Happy wet gardening!!
I would love to hear some of your thoughts and opinions on your own winter vegetable garden adventures so please comment below.
