Happy New Gardening year. This time of year can be too hot to get out in the garden apart from the early mornings and long evenings. It’s more a time for garden planning and eating the fruits of your spring efforts. You can still be planting though. Late summer is good for putting in seeds for winter eating – parsnips, leeks, caulis, cabbages, brussels. Keep planting herbs and leafy saladstuff in January if you have a sheltered spot in the garden and water to keep them going. Remember to keep an eye on the plants you have selected to save seed from – rule of thumb is your best (earliest? most pest tolerant? largest? most mouthwatering? longest cropping? hardiest?) plants. Always tempting to save them for the plate instead.
| January 2010 | |
| What to Plant, When:Guide for temperate areas in SE Australia | Leaf Days: 2 -4, 10 – 13, 20 – 23, 29 – 31 cabbage, chinese cabbage, celery, celeriac, chicory (leaf), orach, lettuce, chives, garlic chives, dill, parsley
Fruit Days: 4 – 6, 13 – 15, 23 – 25, 31 beans (climbing and bush), corn, cucumber, squash, tomato, zucchini Root Days: 6 – 8, 15 – 18, 25 – 27 beetroot, carrots, chicory (root), fennel, kohlrabi, parsnip, radish Flower Days: 1 – 2, 8 – 10, 18 – 20, 27 – 19 broccoli#, romanesco broccoli, cauliflower, borage, |
| Other Dates to note:Moon Descending
Moon Ascending Full Moon/New Moon Nodes*: Perigee***: Apogee***: |
1 -12, 27 – 31
12 – 17 1, 30/15 (30th is a Blue Moon!) 1, 15, 29 2 17 |
| Garden Tasks:Apply soil food
Apply foliar food Mulch Transplant seedlings, plants, cuttings Graft |
12 – 13, 15 – 18
1- 2, 27 – 19 anytime 12 – 17 1 – 5, 27 – 31 |
Dates are a guide for these particular crops. Timing will vary from region to region (particularly with climate change) and even within a garden’s own microclimates. Of course, rainfall, weather conditions and your own schedule will influence when you garden.
# Broccoli can be grown year round, apart from the hottest months. I prefer to plant through the colder months to avoid having the broccoli forming heads when the cabbage moth butterfly is active, in late spring and summer.
* Each month there are a couple of ‘node days’ when the sun and moon are in opposition. Many biodynamic gardeners choose not to plant on these days, or at least a couple of hours either side of the node.
** Perigee is the point where the moon is closest to the earth, so the influence of the moon is strongest. Apogee is the furthest point from the earth, so the opposite occurs.
