Planting in the heat

Planting in hot weather requires some thought and planning. Seedlings should be planted in the cool of the morning, or late afternoon/evening, and covering them with a shade cloth cage can be a good idea for the first week or so. In fact, some people go as far as to put shade cloth over their whole veggie patch during late Spring, Summer and early Autumn. Ensure seedlings are watered in well immediately after planting and spread compost and mulch over the soil to keep the moisture in. 

What to plant now in early Summer

Most crops planted now will be ready for harvest in January, February and March, right in the middle of Summer. So it makes sense to plant Summer crops. These include cucumber, zucchini, button squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, capsicums, eggplant, chillies, okra, corn, beans, basil and perilla, as well as flowers like zinnias and dahlias. 

Leafy greens that grow well over Summer include kang kong, orach and Tokyo bekana. Lettuce can be grown but needs to be shaded from the hot afternoon sun and planted when it is cool. 

Winter crop that take many months to grow like parsnips, leeks and Brussel sprouts can also be planted now to ensure they are large enough before the weather starts to cool and days get too short for growth. 

Still to come

Next time I will talk about protecting your fruiting crops, including tomatoes and capsicums, from fruit fly. 

This week's recipe links

German Potato Dumplings from All Recipes. 

Zucchini Slice from Cooked & Loved. 

Feel-Good Zucchini Muffins from Pinch of Yum. 

Asian Pork and Veggie Rice Balls from The Healthy Mummy. 

More info

To read more about what's happening on our local organic farm this week as we grow and care for veggies for our box delivery, check out this week's newsletter here.