Thrive sustainability

Prepping for a winter of abundance

Laura Blishen • April 18, 2024

With a little prepping and planning winter can be the easiest and most productive season to grow food.

 Step 1. Plan Your Crops: Choose vegetables that thrive in cooler temperatures, see our what to sow now guide or browse our Autumn selection. I find it useful to sketch out my garden beds on paper and figure out what will go where before I start planting, If you are short on space opt for climbing pea varieties such as our beautiful purple podded or golden peas that are as ornamental as they are tasty.

Step 2. Clear the Area: Remove weeds and any remains of summer crops and add them to your compost. If you have grown legumes over the summer just dig them back into the soil, the root systems will put valuable nitrogen into the soil to feed the winter crops. Not all your summer crops have to go Chilli, Capsicum and eggplants may stop producing over the winter months but in warmer winters they will survive and spring back into action when the temperatures rise again, I prune them back and plant around them if the plant is healthy.

Step 3. Add the magic ingredient - Organic matter, this is any material that was once living, or come from a living being and includes leaf litter, food scraps, compost, worm castings, mulch, lawn clippings and animal manures. Organic matter is ESSENTIAL to productive gardening soil. It provides nutrients for plants, improves the structure of the soil, holds moisture, and provides food for earthworms and microorganisms which further improve soil fertility and structure. The organic matter provides the food for the soil food web and in turn feeds the plants.  Enrich the soil by adding aged compost, aged manure, or worm castings. This will improve soil structure, provide nutrients, and enhance microbial activity.  I gently scratch or shallowly fork in compost and manure, avoiding breaking up the soil structure too much so to conserve the soils microbiome.

Spacing and Layout: Space plants and rows to allow for adequate growth however I usually plant a little closer than most guides recommend avoiding wasted space and room for weeds. Interplant slow growing crops such as leeks or cauliflowers with fast crops of radish, salad or Bok choy to make the most of the ground space whist the other crop is maturing.

Water. Don’t forget seeds and small seedling will need more regular and consistent watering than larger plants and you may not be able to rely on winter rains to keep your crops going.

Mulching: Apply a layer of mulch to conserve moisture, regulate soil temperature, and reduce weed growth.


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Raising your own vegetable seedlings from seed saves money, allows you to source interesting varieties that may not be available in punnets from your local garden centre and can grow as much as you need and practice successional planting. Sowing and germinating the seeds is the first step (for more tips on this see our seed raising guide here) Getting the seeds to pop their little heads up is the first challenge, but many people find once they get the seedlings past the stage where adult leaves are forming, they encounter problems. Common issues include Damping off, a fungal disease, that can cause seedlings to collapse and die suddenly. Leggy seedlings result from insufficient light, leading to weak, elongated stems. Yellowing leaves can indicate nutrient deficiencies or overwatering. Pest infestations, such as tiny fungus gnats flying around seedlings and infesting soil, can damage young plants. Mold growth in seed trays is another issue, often due to excessive moisture and poor air circulation. The following conditions are crucial for growing healthy, robust seedlings. Optimal Lighting and Temperature Seedlings need plenty of light to grow strong. Long, leggy, stretched seedlings are a result of insufficient light. If starting seeds inside on a windowsill once they have germinated, you need to get them outside in natural light, if the weather is cold a greenhouse or cold frame is useful, most commonly in Perth at this time of year the issue may be getting a hot sunny day that fry’s your little seedlings whilst you are at work; in this case placing them under the dappled shade of a tree or creating a little shelter with 30 – 40% shade cloth is ideal. If putting them outside before planting out is not practical or in the case of starting plants such as chillis and capsicums early when the weather is still cold, use grow lights for 12-16 hours a day. When using lights, I have constructed a reflective surround using corflute and kitchen foil that sits around the seedling trays to help the light distribute evenly. For most vegetables maintaining a temperature between 18-24°C is suitable to encourage healthy growth. Watering and Humidity Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Signs of overwatering can be yellowing leaves or an infestation of fungus gnats. How often seedlings are watered will depend on temperature and situation, but they will generally need watering once, or twice daily. Good Air Circulation Ensure there is adequate airflow around your seedlings. If growing in a greenhouse open windows and doors during the day or use a small fan to gently circulate air, which helps prevent the humid conditions that fungus gnats, fungi that causes damping off and mould thrive in. Fertilising Once seedlings have their first true adult leaves, start feeding them with a diluted, balanced fertilizer. Be careful to use the right dilution as fertiliser that is too strong can burn and damage young seedlings; a weaker solution is needed for seedling than mature plants and shrubs. I feed potted seedlings weekly, until they are a good size to plant out in the vegetable patch. Mark it in your diary or calendar so you remember to keep to the schedule! Seaweed solutions can be useful to prevent transplant shock and stress, but they are not a fertiliser and will not provide adequate nutrients to young growing plants. We make our own liquid fertilisers using weeds, manures and compost. Verigrow is also an excellent locally made fertiliser that we use occasionally. Regular pest check Small seedlings can quickly be decimated by pests due to their small size and in isolated areas such as greenhouses you won’t have small birds doing the pest patrol for you! Make a point of inspecting your seedlings closely a couple of times a week so you can address any problems before they reach plague proportions.
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