Insects can do a lot of late season damage. Keep a close eye on the health of your plants. If you see holes being chomped in leaves or the tips of plants wilting it is a good sign to investigate further. A spray of neem or pyrethrum may be in order.
Now is the time to get some early winter crops in. Plant seedlings of broccoli, kale, cabbage, carrots, and leeks. It may seem early to be thinking about winter crops but if you get them in the soil now they will race ahead in the autumn warmth and be ready to harvest before the really cold and wet weather descends on us.
Vegetables to sow; broccoli, cabbages, carrots, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuces, spinach, silverbeet and Swedes.
Urban orchard
Get the remaining stone fruit off your trees. Any dew or rainfall will cause an explosion of fungal spores rotting the remaining fruit. When you have harvested these stone fruit get to work and prune out any overcrowded limbs. The shape you are working towards is an open vase shape. Don't be shy, hack back half to two thirds of this year's growth. Pruning your peach, plum, nectarines and apricot trees now while they are still in leaf minimises the risk of silver leaf disease. These fungal spores are at their highest during the cool, wet winter months.
Harvest grapes as they ripen. All grape vines will need netting from the birds and other critters. At our place our chocolate Labrador has developed a taste for fresh grapes! Obviously she hasn't read the manual which states that raisins are poisonous to dogs!
Lay straw, newspaper and flattened cardboard boxes under your passionfruit. This way as ripe fruit falls it won't be lost in the undergrowth.
Backyard Top Bar Bees
Keeping bees is allowed under most of the country's council bylaws. It is of course best to check so visit your own individual council's website. Most councils allow you to keep up to two hives in an urban area as long as they do not cause a nuisance to neighbours. To keep bees you also have to register with Asure-quality. There is a yearly fee of around $35. Every beekeeper must submit a yearly Certificate of Inspection. This piece of paperwork is to state that your hives have been checked for diseases by a trained beekeeper. You can become a trained beekeeper by attending a ½ day course and sitting a test. If you are yet to do this and need your yearly paperwork filled in you can contact your local beekeeping club and there may be a person there who can do these checks for you.
Eco Tip: On a clean tennis ball drop a few drips of lavender essential oil and place in dryer. The tennis ball will infuse your clothes with a lovely scent as it separates and helps to dry your clothes faster as the dryer is on.
