With a gentle lead in to December, apart from one hot week, things look good for a summer bounty of produce. Not too late to plant summer crops such as tomatoes, zuke and cuke, pumpkin, eggplant, runner beans, capsicums and basil. I’ve just planted beans (which don’t tolerate the really hot sunny days) and a selection of iceberg, oakleaf, mignonette lettuces in a shady bed. Neither tolerate hot, full-sun days. Last year we had an excellent feed of beans from this strategy and lettuces which didn’t bolt to seed.
And not too early to think about what late summer plantings (seed) of caulis, brussels, cabbages, and other veges you’d like to be eating through late autumn and winter. The key is to ensure you have some garden bed areas free for these late summer sowings (or at least betting the crops you have in them will be finished by then). It’s a delicate dance to have crops in all stages of growth – and to be eating them – year round.
The other activity for summer, in a word, is mulch.
DECEMBER DATES:
| What to Plant, When:
Guide for temperate areas in SE Australia |
Leaf Days: 4-5, 13-16, 22-24, 31 Amaranth, basil, bok choi, cabbage, kale, celery, endive, kale, mibuna, mizuna, orach, rocket, tat soi, lettuce, mustard, silverbeet, chard, spinach, chives, garlic chives, coriander, dill, parsley, rhubarb, clover Fruit Days:6-9, 16-18, 23-26 Amaranth, bush beans, climbing beans, capsicum, chilli, corn, cucumber, eggplant, mustard, peas, okra, pumpkin, rockmelon, snopeas, strawberries, squash, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini Root Days: 1, 9-11, 26-29 Asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke, beetroot, carrots, celeriac, fennel, bunching onion, kohlrabi, parsnip, radish, spring onion, shallot, potatoes Flower Days: 1-4, 11-13, 20-22, 29-31 Broccoli, borage, globe artichoke, sunflower, all flowers |
| Other Dates to note: Moon Descending
Moon Ascending Moon opp Saturn Full Moon/New Moon Nodes*: Perigee***: Apogee***: |
1-11, 23-31
11-23 6 11 (eclipse at 12.36am)/25 10,23 22 6 |
| Garden Tasks:Apply soil food
Apply foliar food Mulch Transplant seedlings, plants, cuttings and prune Graft |
1-11, 23-31
11-23 Anytime 1, 9-11, 26-29 11-13, 20-22 |
