Vegetable Garden update : The last hurrah for summer

So it kind of hit me for the last 6 weeks we're actually in Autumn! I've been posting under late summer, it still feels like summer (as I sit here one month from winter in a singlet and shorts). An update on my veggie patch for this fortnight.

The Aquaponics system

So we got our fishies. We're not exactly sure how many went in, but our estimates were about 40. Nathan wanted Barramundi, but because of their price and our ability to quickly kill them all because we're still novices, we opted for a more indestructible variety - Jade Perch. The plants were in dire need of nutrients. Most of the plants look OK, except we've had a bit of a aphid invasion on the collards and the lettuce is looking a little yellow. So we've added a small amount of soluble Iron Chelate to the plants, and have spraying them with Seasol directly on their leaves. They are perking up now which is great. We've added a few more plants into the system :-

• Cos Lettuce
• Basil
• Coriander
• Parsley
• Leeks

We've been told that we can pretty much grow anything, but I am sure we'll find some plants doing better than others.

The veggie patch

A few of the summer crops are nearing the end, the corn, cucumbers & beans are struggling, but the tomato and capsicum are still producing fruit.

Cucumbers

After a week away we returned to see the cucumbers pretty much destroyed by bugs, of the 4 plants we had in, I think only 1 plant produced cucumbers, but we had an oversupply from that one plant and had to give away a fair few cucumbers. The plants were covered in aphids, caterpillars & grasshoppers. There were a few baby cucumbers on the vine but the plant was struggling so it was time to get pulled out. The beans also had the same fate except it was just grasshoppers that destroyed them.

Corn

The corn was a bit of a failure. None of the flowers seemed to produce much pollen, so it ended up in a crop of baby corn. Next year I'll be a bit more selective with my corn seed selection and also I wont attempt a late summer crop.

Did you know: The pollen needs to land on the silk from the husks, each individual silk is attached to a corn kernal and needs to be pollinated before it will form properly.

Seed raising for winter veggies

So I've started my seed raising for my winter peas and greens. My peas have grown so quickly I think I put them in a little too early so I've distributed the peas around the family. I'll put some more seeds in after we get back from our holiday and perhaps our Tomato plant will be finished by then. I've planted:-

• Snow Peas
• Sugar Snap peas (YUM!)
• Tuscan Kale
• Swiss Chard
• Pak Choi
• Cauliflower
• Tigarella Tomatoes
• Beets
• Marigolds

For my seed raising I use an eco pot maker and recycle newspaper to create my pots. It's great because it doesn't cause as much trauma when you transplant the plants. I would love to know what you've planted for your winter/autumn crops. Leave a comment below.