Early season crisp apples, figs, grapes and apricots are in perfect condition. Photo / Getty Images
Early season crisp apples, figs, grapes and apricots are in perfect condition. Photo / Getty Images
Here's what to eat and plant as summer turns to autumn.
Ripe for the picking
Avocados, eggplants and green beans are good to go. New season garlic and the kumera crop are also great eating. Early season crisp apples, figs, grapes and apricots are in perfect condition. Make the most of the new potatoes and the last of the sweetcorn.
Vegetable garden
If you have been growing garlic over the winter and spring now is the time to lift it. I use a garden fork to gently lift the bulbs. Shake any loose soil from them and then leave in a sunny dry area so that the bulbs can dry. This way they will store well. Visit youtube.com for a lesson on how to plait several stalks together and then hang in a cool, dry area. Garlic for the year!
Tomatoes have been late to ripen this year. As long as they are beginning to turn red they can be cut and brought inside. Place them on a sunny window sill and they will continue to ripen.
Pests are also prevalent. Watch for green looper caterpillar and psyllid on your tomatoes and white cabbage butterflies on all your brassicas. Aphids and white fly can also visit in plague proportions. Spray regularly with neem and pyrethrum (you can combine these two sprays in the one application) or cover your crop with a specialised fine netting.
If you have any gaps in your garden now is the time to get some winter cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli in. It seems early, but planted now these winter crops will get off to a great start and offer you winter harvests.
The following can be planted now: carrots seeds, celery, kale, beetroot, leeks and brassicas.
The warm weather activates bacteria in the soil so this is a perfect month to make compost. Turning the heap regularly will help stimulate decomposition. Keep it moist - like a damp sponge - an old piece of carpet or a tarpaulin may help. A few handfuls of garden lime and sulphate of ammonia will help create the perfect compost for all your winter crops in the coming months.
The urban orchard
The main pip and stone fruit are in full swing. Late-season peaches and plums are now mature. Give your trees a long, slow drink to help swell fruit size, especially if it has been dry.
Check your apple trees. If some of their branches are groaning under the weight of ripening fruit provide props - a wooden plank or stake hammered into the soil and propped under the branch. Apples are ripe when they come off easily in your hand.
Trim any excessive leaf growth around your ripening bunches of grapes so the sun's rays can reach them. If they have a powdery fuzz on them spray with a fungicide spray such as sulphur. To stop the birds throw some netting over the grapes - or old net curtains will do the trick.
If you have a passionfruit vine, this time is critical. Irrigate the root area deeply every week and apply a fertiliser to ensure you maintain healthy growth. If you find that some of the fruit is dropping before is has ripened this could be due to a fungal infection called brown spot. Spray this serious disease with a fungicide such as copper or sulphur to try and cease its spread.
Worms
If your worm farm is new spend some extra time finely chopping up any food scraps. This way the worms will find it easier to process the food and you will avoid any rotting food smells.
If you are keeping rabbits for your own sustainable backyard meat production and have fed them on commercial rabbit pellets it is very important to know what is in the commercial rabbit pellets. Often a coccidiosis prevention medication is added. Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of animals caused by a protozoa. Ensure you feed a cocciostat-free feed for at least 12 days prior to slaughter. I feed my rabbits brood mare mix as an alternative.
Green Urban Living Autumn Challenge
Join the crusade to get tens of thousands of kiwis to have some fun, save some money and help the environment this autumn. The Green Urban Living Autumn Challenge is free to enter with great weekly prizes up for grabs. There's a who's who of NZ eco celebrities judging the new challenge presented each week. Participants post their results online to share ideas and solutions and vote on the most innovative and helpful ideas Download the poster and instructions at greenurbanliving.co.nz.
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