Online Food Garden Chat June 2020

On Sunday 21 June 2020 the Food Garden Group's second online food garden chat took place. We talked about frost, passion fruit, globe artichokes, avocados, broccoli, garlic, neighbours, timing of sowing and planting, and the influence of temperature.  See below for a summary of the discussions.

Has frost damaged plants in your garden?

Todays' participants came from a wide variety of Southern locations, so it was interesting to find out how wide-spread frost occurs in their gardens.  Quite a few people reported that they already had had frost this winter.  I reported that a zucchini that had been productive for a long while into autumn, died the day after the first frost.  It just went completely yellow and died.  Karen told us about sweet peas she has growing and that are flowering at the moment.  They are going fine in spite of occasional frost at her place.  Pea and broad bean flowers fall off if temperatures go below zero, but no one reported that happening in their garden. 

Passion fruit

Bernadette told us about her passion fruit plants that normally live around 7 - 8 years.  She plants a new one when her producing plant is 4 years old, so she is not without passion fruit when the older plant dies.  She showed us the older plant. It now has yellow leaves and that may be the result of recent frosts.

When to plant globe artichoke

Susan wanted to know when to plant globe artichokes.  Would now (end of June) be a good time?  it is really not a good time for sowing and planting of any root crops.  If they germinate or begin to sprout it will be very very slowly because of the cold conditions, and wet soils might rot them before they get a chance to.  I recommended planting the globe artichoke roots some time in September, not earlier.

About avocados

Bernadette showed us a young avocado tree (around a metre-high) in a small pot.  It had no leaves until higher up the stem. She asked what she should do about it. Avocado trees need regular watering and, very importantly, good drainage.  I felt that the pot was too small for the tree we saw, and recommended that in early spring she plant the tree in a spot with good drainage and give it plenty of good compost or complete organic fertiliser.

Ray told us about an un-grafted avocado seedling that now, after seven years, is beginning to produce fruit.  People commented that he was lucky, because un-grafted avocado seedlings can be a real disappointment.  More info about avocados, including varieties, soil and fertiliser requirements can be found here.

Early Broccoli

Karen told us about broccoli seedlings she planted in early March, and that grew to maturity so fast that she could not keep up with the amount of broccoli they produced. The flowers in the flower heads began to open and she had to give a lot of them to the chooks.  She planted a second lot of broccoli seedlings later.  They are progressing at a much slower speed.  I talked about the fact that I often don't plant brassica seedlings until some time in April.  Most years there is still enough warm weather in April and May to get them going, and then they slowly mature to produce in July and August (even September if you regularly pick the smaller second and third flower heads).  Planting later also means that you don't get aphids in them, and no caterpillars when the seedlings are small.

Some things can't be hurried 

This brought us to the subject of timing.  Timing is important for many crops including tomatoes.  Some people sow their tomatoes indoors in July, and then have a big problem to keep them healthy until it is finally time to plant them outdoors some time in November. Indoor-sown tomatoes at that time of year often become 'long, thin and lanky' because temperatures are not consistently high enough, and there is not enough light for enough hours of the day.  Sowing tomatoes in the first week of September indoors works well.  Last year November was so cold that the best time to plant tomato seedlings in gardens was in early December. It is easy to sow tomatoes too early.  Sowing some time in September may seem late, but is quite alright for Tasmanian conditions.

Many seeds have an inbuilt timing mechanism. Pumpkin seeds, for instance, time their germination to be after a certain number of hours of 21-degree temperature or higher.  They simply won't germinate if that requirement is not met. Peas don't produce pods until temperatures are right.  You can plant peas in February, hoping for early peas in July, August. Won't happen! You might as well sow your peas much later (May - June), because they won't produce pods until temperatures and light are right, and that is often mid October.

How do RSVPs for Food Garden Group events work?

Monica joined our group after COVID restrictions started in March, and wanted to know how RSVPs will work when face-to-face visits and other events will restart. That was a really good question, and one that will be discussed in the next FGG newsletter.

Planting garlic just before mid-winter

Susan mentioned that she planted her late season Dunganski garlic just before the winter solstice, and wanted to know whether that is too late.  General consensus was that they will probably slowly germinate (given the cold conditions), but that they will be alright, if the soil they are in has good drainage, so they don't rot. The best time to plant is from early March onwards.  The later you plant garlic, the less time they have to mature until harvest time.  Harvest time is when the foliage begins to die off and that is in late November - early December. The later you plant, the smaller the end result will be at that time, but that does not mean that late planted garlics are not worth harvesting.  Susan added that her friend tells her that Dunganski garlic keeps very well, but if stored in the cold, will shoot, so she stores hers in the lounge room!

Frustrating neighbours

Erika mentioned that she will have to move a vegie-bed because the neighours have planted trees on the border that will shade the area.  We talked about the fact that not only shade would be a problem, but also tree roots.  General consensus was that it best to discuss these issues with neighbours and see whether you can come to an arrangement that suits both parties.  Tree roots can be kept away from vegie beds by digging a trench (the deeper the better) and putting roofing-iron sheets in it vertically.  Not a small job, but it will keep most roots out.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this online food garden chat. These Zoom meetings have been one positive that came out of the COVID-19 crisis.  It might be something we have next winter when there is a break from face-to-face food garden visits.

There will be another online food garden chat next month.  Keep your eye out for details.