Updated Tuesday 7 Feb 2012

·         Time to start harvesting onions. These should be dried off prior to harvesting and storing away for the winter. Once the leaves of onions have bent over they need to be pulled and left to lie in the sun for a few days to dry and cure. Ways of storing them include; Stringing – hang in the kitchen to give them a French flavour. Wire Netting – strung between garage or shed rafters. Onion Bags – hang in onion bags where air can circulate freely.

·         If you have a glasshouse or plastic covered tunnel house or frame you may wish to shade it with shade cloth to help keep it cooler. An old technique was to lime wash the glass or plastic or apply a 10% white acrylic paint solution. These all make a big difference at this time of the year and shade cloth can be removed and lime wash or paint on plastic or glass will naturally weather off before winter sets in.

·         If you like to have a succession of Brassica’s, now is time to make a planting of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprouts as well as the red and green leaved lettuces, celery & silverbeet. A few cell plants planted every 2-3 weeks will maintain a good supply of veges

·         Make new sowings of carrot and beetroot seeds for an autumn – winter crop, When sowing soak beetroot seeds in a cup of water for a couple of hours before sowing to help overcome slow germination. Thin out plants for a better crop and keep moist and weed free. Protect seedlings with slug bait and feed regularly with Seasol, Thrive or similar liquid fertiliser. Very few pest and disease problems are encountered with growing beetroot.

·         Carrots and parsnips sown in November and December are growing rapidly now. Finger size carrot thinning’s can be pulled out and eaten to leave more growing space for the others. Carrots grow best in soil very low in nitrogen. A soil too high in nitrogen may result in the carrot roots forking

·         Continue to feed tomatoes, using Tui tomato food for excellent results

·         Keep a close eye on the vegetable and fruit garden, harvesting at the right time gives so much flavour, time to harvest cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, courgettes, capsicums, beans etc.

·         Protect ripening fruit and vegetables with bird netting or a bird scare device

·         Trim or clean-snap the lower leaves from tomato plants as fruit ripens to encourage air circulation around the base of the plant.

·         Spray susceptible crops such as tomatoes and potatoes with copper to prevent blight

·         Maintain regular watering of all garden plants when dry conditions prevail and attend to trimming staking and tying to prevent wind damage us required.